ShinRa
by GeneralQuistis-Zhakeena
Summary: Sequel to GeneralQuistis's "Diary of the First Lady". Just how powerful is ShinRa? Will its reign end with Rufus and Tifa's heiress? Is Rufus alive? Where is Tifa? (COMPLETE)
1. chapter 1

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 1: The ShinRa Heiress

"Mornings are horrible…" she thought miserably. Little sunlight seeped through the black drapes by the window which added to the gloomy atmosphere of her room.

"Meowrh…" she heard the sound of the panther-like animal sleeping beside her.

She did not smile but she sat up and looked at the black panther-like animal and patted its head. "Hello, Dark Nation." She greeted, quite glumly that it did not really sound like it's a hello.

"Meowrgh…" the animal replied happily with a purr. 

The door burst open and this man with red hair entered.

The girl frowned upon seeing this unpleasant-looking man. "Don't you know how to knock, Reno?" she demanded angrily.

"Good morning, Miss ShinRa." He just greeted simply with a hint of fake joy in his voice.

The girl's frown deepened upon hearing that. She snorted and crossed her arms. "Well, _bad_ morning to you, Mister Reno." She snapped.

Reno eyed her cautiously. The stern look from her crimson eyes made him a little annoyed. "Hmf… why did you have to be that harlot's daughter? You're better off with President Rufus's eyes." He thought miserably.

Dark Nation snarled at him, as if she could read his thoughts.

The girl's eyes narrowed at Reno, sensing from Dark Nation that he was thinking of something unpleasant. "Is there something wrong, Reno?" she asked.

Reno parted the drapes and let all the sunlight in. Dark Nation turned her head to the side, trying to avoid the bright sunrays.

The girl did not move. She kept on staring at Reno as if hoping that her eyes could just will him dead. "I asked you a question, I demand an answer," she demanded before she got up.

Reno scanned her from head to toe. At age 17, she was already 5'5" tall; even taller than her mother whom she didn't even know since childhood. Her blonde hair was up to her shoulders because Reno would not let her grow it longer than that, which really annoyed her. "Of all the people in the place, why him?! Why can't Reeve be my so-called nanny instead?" she thought miserably as she pointed to the door. "Well if you don't want to answer, just get out of here. And cancel the meeting with the executives. I'm not in the mood to talk to greedy people." She snapped.

Reno nodded, remembering President Rufus's temper when he was still alive. He smiled. "You are really like your father." He told her.

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up. I don't even know him. All I know is that he's dead and rotting in the ground." She snapped before she headed for the bathroom.

Before she could enter, Reno spoke up again, "Miss ShinRa," he began.

She turned back to him. "That's _president_." She snapped angrily.

He nodded. "Okay… President Tiffany ShinRa," he began again.

"Yes, you redheaded freak?" she asked with a sarcastic smile on her face.

Reno stiffened when he heard that. "Breakfast is ready. Where do you want to go today after breakfast since you're not going to attend the meeting?" he asked.

"This is Midgar, right?" she asked, wanting to annoy him by asking too many stupid questions.

"Yes, this is Midgar, President Tiffany." He replied.

She smiled simply before she turned away. "Prepare the limo. I'm going to the slums." She answered simply before she entered the bathroom.

Reno froze. He could not understand the young President on why she is very nice to the people outside the ShinRa HQ but very cold and mean to the people inside… especially to him. She even wanted to go the slums whenever she did not have anything else to do. He frowned and shook his head before he headed outside. On his way downstairs, he saw Scarlet with a sneer on her face. "Kya~! Why that sour face?" she asked.

"The President wants to go to the slums _again._" He said through gritted teeth.

"Well, forget about that… remember the new Turk that I've recruited for this company?" she asked with a sly smile.

Reno stared at her. "Oh, the blonde guy?" he asked.

"Yeah. The one who looks like President Rufus?" she asked.

Reno nodded. "Oh… I see… okay. What about him?" he asked glumly.

"He'll start work today. You might want to introduce him to the President first and orient him with the rules. Kya~!" she explained.

"Yeah, I'll do that. Where is he?" he asked.

"Downstairs in the lounge." She replied.


	2. chapter 2

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 2: Rufford

Reno went ahead and headed straight to the lounge. Once he got inside, he saw a man who was supposedly 40 years old, yet he looked much younger. He had blonde hair and icy blue eyes which strongly reminded Reno of the late President Rufus ShinRa, except that his hair wasn't combed back neatly; instead it looked a little messy.

The blonde guy stood up and smiled stiffly at Reno. "You must be Reno." He said plainly as if he'd known Reno for a long time already.

Reno was silent for a while before he had managed to nod his head in greeting. "Yes… nice to meet you…and you are?" he asked.

The blonde man smiled slyly. "Rufford Lockheart." He replied simply.

Reno raised an eyebrow; Rufford noticed the sudden angry look from the redhead. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Reno shook his head. "Oh nothing… it's just your surname. It sounds so familiar." He replied, trying to avoid the piercing stare from Rufford's blue eyes.

"Why, do you have an enemy with that surname?" Rufford asked, trying to probe him.

Reno gazed at him with a puzzled look but he did not answer the question. "Follow me, I'll introduce you to the President." He said before he turned back from Rufford.

Rufford had this sly smile on his face when he heard the noun _president_. "What is the President's name?" he asked as he followed Reno down the hallway.

"Tiffany ShinRa. She's the only daughter and heiress of the late President Rufus ShinRa." He explained glumly.

"I see… late? Why? How did the ex-president die?" Rufford asked.

Reno would like to smack Rufford's face with a paper fan for asking that. "Man, he applied as a new Turk and he doesn't even know a thing about ShinRa?" he thought miserably before he replied, "Some rare disease that I haven't even heard of before… he kept on vomiting blood until his body weakened and he died before Tiffany was born." He explained.

"Where's he buried?" Rufford asked.

"The cemetery… the ShinRa Family has a mausoleum there. It's in Nibelheim, actually." Reno explained.

Rufford was silent for a while but he spoke up again with an inquiring tone, "What about Tiffany's mother?" he asked.

Reno frowned and he could feel his own blood boiling because of the question. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Rufford shrugged. "Oh you know… who is she, what happened to her…" he stammered uneasily.

"We don't know. She left the poor child here and she took some money from her dead husband and she went off somewhere." Reno lied.

Rufford was silent for a while. "Alright," he said plainly.


	3. chapter 3

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 3: Tifa Lockheart

She examined her reflection in the mirror, gazing at her crimson eyes and blonde hair. She recalled the magazines and all the other newspapers that had written things about her, saying that she was the best among all the ShinRa Presidents due to the fact that she was a better leader and knows better marketing strategies. She even managed to make the family richer than her father and her ancestors could have done themselves in their lifetime, and she even divided the money for the improvement and development of the whole city of Midgar. Compared to how Midgar had looked like several years ago, it now looked better and more inviting to look at. 

She ran her fingers through her blonde hair, thinking about her parents… especially her mother. She never even knew how she looked like.

Reno had mentioned to her that her mother was an evil woman who took some of the money from ShinRa and ran off, leaving her. 

Tiffany could not decided if she should believe that or not, so she just tried hard not to think about it. "Oh well… after all, I don't trust that carrot-top," she thought with a nasty smile on her face before she proceeded to the door. Once she got out of her room, she headed straight to the elevators and went up to her office on the 70th floor of the building. There was no one there so she just decided to sit by her desk and gaze outside her window, observing the busy atmosphere downtown. Then, she heard her cellular phone ringing. She frowned and scratched her head upon realizing that she hid it in one of the drawers but she could not remember where it was. She quickly opened each of the drawers starting from the left side of the office table, from top to bottom. "Damn, where the hell is it?" she thought angrily to herself. She opened the last drawer from the left side, the drawer that she never bothered using because it was too low and she did not like the idea of stooping down to get her things from down there. The moment she opened it, the smell of old country wood filled her nose. She flinched a little but she stiffened when she saw a brown envelope, the same colour as the insides of the drawer. She frowned slightly as she got it, completely forgetting about the ringing mobile phone. She looked at the flap and it had some writings. She realized that it was the handwriting of a man and it read, _Property of Rufus ShinRa_. 

"Dad," she realized silently. She suddenly felt nervous and with a trembling hand, she looked inside the envelope and pulled out this glossy paper with his father's handwriting on it which said _May 3 of this lovely year… Tifa's Birthday._

Tiffany raised an eyebrow. "Tifa?" she muttered softly before she turned over the glossy paper and it revealed to her a group picture. She could recognize her father, Rufus, standing beside the chair where this beautiful brunette was seated. Behind them was this blue-eyed girl with short blonde hair holding a cake.

Tiffany examined the photo and she could recognize Reno standing at the far right of the picture with this bald guy wearing glasses. "Who's Tifa?" she asked aloud.

She placed the picture down and she heard her mobile phone ringing again. "Damn…" she cursed in annoyance before she opened the top center drawer. She sighed in relief when she saw her mobile phone and answered the call quickly, "Yeah?" she asked.

There was silence.

"Hello?" she asked once again.

"I..is this Tiffany?"

A woman.

Tiffany raised an eyebrow. "Who's this?" she asked with a stiff tone.

"Are you Tiffany?" the woman asked once again.

Tiffany felt nervous as she stared at the brunette on the photo. "Yes, this is Tiffany. Who's this?" she asked

The woman hung up.

Tiffany's eyes grew wide. "Hey! Hello?" she called out. After she lost hope, she shook her head in dismay and placed her mobile phone inside the pocket of her white blazer. She continued to stare at the brunette on the photo with a confused look on her face. "Who are you?" she asked aloud.

She could hear the birds chirping outside so she went to the window to look, the photo in her grasp again. She saw her reflection on the glass of the window and her eyes grew wide upon seeing her crimson eyes which resembled the crimson eyes of the brunette in the photo. She frowned slightly. 

She was interrupted when the door just opened without any warning. She cleared her thoughts upon seeing Reno and the blonde man who clearly resembled her father. Tiffany gazed up at the two with a stunned look on her face but she did not say anything.

Reno smiled at the girl. "Hello, President Tiffany. I would like to introduce to you the new member of the Turks; his name is Rufford Lockheart." He said.

Tiffany turned to Rufford with wide eyes.

Rufford nodded his head in greeting.

Reno approached the desk, his eyes on the photo. "What's that?" he asked.

Tiffany got the photo before Reno could get his hands on it. "Not so fast, Reno." She snapped.

Rufford's eyes grew wide upon seeing the photo. 

Reno's eyes were wide in surprise when he realized who were in the photo. "Where did she get that? I thought I've already disposed every single photo of… of that girl!?" he thought in panic. 

"Reno, who is this woman?" Tiffany demanded, pointing at the brunette.

Reno was speechless, not knowing how to answer. Tiffany could see sweat trickling down from his head. 

"I don't know her, your excellency." He lied.

Tiffany's eyes narrowed at Reno, then she turned to Rufford upon seeing his sudden reaction towards the photo. "What about you, Mister Lockheart?" she asked with a grim expression on her face as she approached them with the photo still on her hands.

Rufford could not help but smile at the young president. "Such a sly youth… full of energy and enthusiasm for a job to be done." He stated with a suave tone.

Tiffany stopped walking and frowned at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You are just like your father in many ways… I'm pretty sure that if he is still alive, he'll be very proud of you." He replied with a low tone while keeping his eyes on Reno.

Reno felt a shiver run down his spine when he heard Rufford say that. He wanted to say something to Rufford about what he had mentioned to Tiffany earlier, but he did not exactly know how to put it into words…

Tiffany's eyes narrowed at Rufford as her frown deepened. She kept her eyes on Rufford as a funny feeling began to sweep through her thoughts… it was like she had seen him before… but she was not too sure, so she just spoke up with a trembling tone. "What do you know about my family?" she asked.

Rufford just stared down at her, as if reading her thoughts through her crimson eyes. The sight of her eyes made him cringe a little, as if it pierced through his whole being so easily. "I cannot assure you of anything right now, but that woman you are asking about is…" he trailed off, waiting for any reaction from Reno, but there wasn't any, so he proceeded with his eyes on the redhead, as if keeping an eye on him. "…Tifa Lockheart." He spoke the name slowly, emphasizing each syllable.

Reno stiffened and looked away.

Tiffany's eyes were wide in surprise. "Ti…Tifa… Lockheart?" she asked with a surprised tone.


	4. chapter 4

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 4: Disputes in the Office

Reno approached Rufford. "Okay, enough already. Let's go and I'll let Scarlet deal with you." He snapped as he grabbed Rufford's arm and led the way to the door.

Tiffany was not able to react. She just stood there and stared at Rufford until he and Reno finally got out of the office. 

"Okay, Rufford. You think you could deceive me now by acting like you don't know anything about ShinRa? What do you have to say for yourself?" Reno demanded.

"That I am the dumbest Turk of this office and you could just dispose of me if you find me annoying for the President." Rufford answered coldly.

Reno looked into his eyes, seeing some of Mako reflecting from them. "When were you exposed to Mako?" he asked.

Rufford smiled slyly at him. "Ever since before I was born." He replied before he twisted away from Reno's grasp. He straightened his blazer before he proceeded by himself, leaving Reno feeling very stunned and confused. 

Reno scratched his head. "What's wrong with that guy?" he thought before he went the other way, proceeding back to the President's office.

The moment he got inside, Tiffany was already making a phone call to someone. He listened by the doorway, knowing that Tiffany must have already seen him enter.

"Yes, I would like you to search this person for me. No, not a man, a woman. I think she'd be around 40 by now… name? Tifa Lockheart. I don't know if she is a resident but please search everywhere. Yes, even in Costa del Sol… everywhere. I'll pay you 7,000,000 gil if you can find her. This is very personal. Yes, sir. Thank you very much." And she hung up. 

She turned to Reno with a stiff look on her face. "Well, is there something that you would like to tell me?" she asked.

He just stared at her. "I can't believe you are going to search for your dead mother." He snapped.

She frowned at him. "Watch you words, Reno. I haven't used torture before with my servants, would you like to be the first one to experience my wrath?" she asked.

Reno shrugged. "Well… you only torture criminals and those who go against your wishes…" he began.

"You've mentioned that she is dead, but how come in Rufford's eyes, I can still see her alive?" she cut in, trying to change the subject because she was not in the mood to argue with Reno; she could just grab her rifle and shoot him, but she knew better: Reno could be the key to something bad or good… she wasn't sure, but to find out the answer, she just decided to keep him alive as long as there are unanswered questions about her parents.

"You are just imagining things. You've grown up in a world of science and technology so cut it out with the psychic crap." He told her.

"Technology is applied science and science cannot answer every single question that humankind has for everything happening around him and I am not talking about science and technology but I am talking about my mother whom you are claiming to be dead." She snapped impatiently before she headed for the door. "I don't want to talk to you anymore and don't you ever show your face to me for the rest of the day unless you want to die." She said before she got out.

Reno went after her. "But ma'am, who is going to accompany you?" he asked, trying to keep his patience with the brat.

"Rufford can do the job." She told him stiffly.


	5. chapter 5

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 5: Angst and Memories

She could not decide whether the view from her bedroom window is good or not, since she could see the rebuilt and remodeled ShinRa HQ at the center of Midgar. Sure, thanks to the new President of the ShinRa Electric Power Company, Midgar already looks decent and the streets doesn't look too gloomy anymore, unlike before. The skies could already be seen and the sunlight can already give heat to everyone. 

She remembered that she came to Midgar to escape from the people who ruined her life in the ShinRa mansion back in Nibelheim, but little did she know that the young ShinRa heiress would prefer to have her HQ in Midgar. 

All her life, she had waited for this moment, but she does not really have a clue on how to approach the young heiress and tell her, "Hi, I'm your mother, the one that your pesky servants had banished and tried to kill because they think that I'm a whore who seduced your filthy rich father!", but she knew better. 

Over the years, she lived in Midgar with Elena and no one else. However, the once lovely and lively Tifa had wasted those years in sorrow and misery, thinking of revenge and hoping that the only love of her life was there to help her retrieve their daughter from the evil hands of ShinRa.

Every night, she would pray that somehow, she could find a way to talk to her daughter and the courage to face her enemies who ruined her life… 

"And they were the ones who raised her…" she thought miserably.

What was her name again?

Tiffany,

She thought with a smile on her face.

She could never forget the day that girl was born and gave her the name Tiffany. She was even lucky enough that Reno did not even bother to change the name, despite the face that Tiffany's name is closest to her own name: Tifa.

Tifa sighed heavily, her thoughts being surrounded by memories of her daughter and Rufus. 

She was interrupted when the door of her bedroom opened. She quickly turned her head to the door. "Hi, Elena," she greeted with a blank expression.

Elena blinked twice. She could not help but feel surprised whenever Tifa acted so cold and uncaring. "Poor girl… must be the effects of what has happened in the past…" she thought silently as she approached Tifa. "Word reached me that President Tiffany ShinRa will be making rounds again in this sector." She explained with a smile on her face.

Tifa just stared blankly outside the window. "Who'll be with her?" she asked.

"This new Turk named Rufford." Elena replied with an unsure look on her face.

Tifa frowned. "Great… a new Turk… Reno just hired another one… it would be harder for me to approach my own daughter without getting caught." She said glumly.

"Look on the bright side, Tifa. I'm here to help you. Remember I'm a former member of those Turks and I know how they strategize. I can ask Rufford for details." She said.

Tifa just shook her head. "I'm sorry if I'm making this hard for you, Elena." She faced her friend with a sad smile on her face. "You've been kind enough to help me survive living without the two people that I really love so much… if it weren't for you, I'd be so weak that I'd definitely kill myself…" she trailed off when she heard someone knocking on the door.

Elena and Tifa exchanged confused looks. "Who could that be?" the latter asked.

"I'll get it." Elena presented before she headed for the door again, but she stopped when Tifa called out, "No, I'll go with you. Stop acting like you're my maid or something!" she said with a silly look on her face.

Elena giggled. "Oh, I just got used to the fact that you are President Rufus's beloved wife that's why I should also respect you and act like some lady-in-waiting for you." She said with a cheerful look on her face as they headed for the front door downstairs.

Tifa was the one who opened the door with a stiff look on her face, but she was not able to say anything when she recognized who it was. Her eyes grew wide in surprise.

Elena's mouth dropped open as she gaped at the person.

The person was a girl; long brown hair, green eyes, pink dress…

"Aerith?" Tifa had managed to say.

The girl just smiled at them. "I thought you'd forgotten me already," she said simply.

Tifa could not help but smile and hug an old acquaintance, so she did. It was, for Elena, something very good for Tifa since she had been down in the dumps for the past 17 years, grieving for the loss of her husband and daughter. Elena just smiled and stepped aside so that Aerith could come inside. "Come in," she invited.

Tifa and Aerith let go of each other. "Thank you, Elena," the latter said with a gentle smile before turning back to Tifa who had a perplexed look on her face. Aerith shrugged. "I know what you're thinking: I'm supposed to be dead? I got the same reactions from Cid, Barret, Marelene and Red XIII…" she trailed off when Tifa blinked and said, "Are you?"

Aerith chuckled. "Of course not! If I'm dead, you couldn't hug me back there! Can you?" she asked with a challenging look on her face.

Tifa just smiled. "No. I can't. I'll just go through…" she stopped, thinking of the word _dead_. 

Rufus is _dead_.

She stiffened and just rushed upstairs, leaving Elena and Aerith by the door, looking so perplexed.

Behind Aerith, a blonde man joined them. "Aerith," he began, then turned to Elena with a stiff look on his face. "What's she doing here?" he asked.

Elena flashed him an annoyed look. "Oh, it's you… Cloud Strife," she began.

"She's the one living here with Tifa according to the lady from the store." Aerith explained.

Elena just smiled at Cloud, trying to get used to smiling at the ex-enemy of ShinRa. "Well, how did you find us here and why is Gainsborough alive?" she asked.

"Long story, but to make it short, when Tifa left us, we decided to revive Aerith since there was a way… though the process took us a couple of weeks to complete it." Cloud said as he stepped inside and gazed around.

Aerith flashed Elena a look as if asking "Is it okay if I go in?"

Elena smiled kindly at Aerith and let her in. After doing so, she closed the door and sighed. Aerith turned to her again. "What happened to Tifa?" she asked.

"I don't know… she does that all the time…" Elena explained with a disappointed look on her face.

Cloud faced her. "I thought she was supposed to be married to ShinRa?" he asked with a hard look on his face.

Elena stiffened, not knowing how to answer, for she herself had been sad for Tifa. "Don't they know what happened 17 years ago?" she thought silently as she decided to ask, "So, how did you find us here?" trying to change the subject.

Cloud and Aerith were silent for a few seconds, but the latter finally decided to say, "We just arrived here from Nibelheim 5 days ago. We were quite surprised that ShinRa has a new President… a woman. What happened to Rufus? I thought Tifa's his wife?" 

"It's a long story," Elena gestured for them to sit down, so they did. She sat down on one of the couches facing the couple and sighed heavily before proceeding, "but to make the long story short, President Rufus died and Reno was making Tifa's life so miserable that he decided to get rid of her and the baby girl. Rude and I were supposed to take Tifa away from Nibelheim and take her here in Midgar, but Rude died and Reno got the baby." 

Cloud was silent for a while and then blinked. "Why didn't Reno kill the child?" he asked.

"Knowing him, he's got a plan up his sleeve… probably because he doesn't want to appear suspicious about the First Lady's sudden disappearance from the ShinRa mansion. What everybody knows is that Tifa just used Rufus for his money, which isn't true… and that she is already dead." Elena continued.

"But the ShinRa HQ is here again in Midgar, and they happen to control the whole Planet… what if they find out that you guys are just here? Aren't you in the list of citizens?" Aerith asked with a worried look on her face.

"When they asked us to register, we used fake names. I'm registered here as Elen Shinra, sister of Tifa Shinra, which is Tifa herself." Elena explained.

"ShinRa? Won't you become suspicious?" Cloud asked with a curious look on his face as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"The spelling is different. The surname that we're using has a small letter R, while the original surname of President Rufus has a capital R. That's how it's originally spelled, actually. You can check out the ShinRa Company logo to make sure." She explained with a keen look on her face as she leaned backward.

Cloud and Aerith exchanged unsure glances, then the former turned back to Elena again. "Do they make rounds?" 

"Yes, they do… but the security isn't too strict anymore unlike before. Tiffany ShinRa is kind, thank God for that, but word has it that inside the ShinRa building, she's just like her father: cold and uncaring." She explained with a sad look on her face.

Aerith nodded slightly. "I see…" she said slowly, her eyes fixed on the wilting red rose in the vase on top of the coffee table. 

Cloud gazed around, examining every bit of detail around the living room. "This place doesn't look so bad…" he said aloud.

"Of course. Tifa herself had decorated this place. I don't know where she gets the money, but she bought this house for 150,000,000… it's pretty big if you ask me…" Elena explained with a proud look on her face.

"I could've sworn you guys are listed in the Class A's of this place. Do you get invited to the parties at ShinRa?" Aerith asked with a happy smile on her face.

"Yes, but I'm the only one who attends… every year during Tiffany's birthday, the staff and employees plan a party for her and the only outsiders to be invited would be the Class A's… if you know what I mean…" Elena replied.

They were interrupted when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs so they just kept quiet until Tifa arrived with puffy eyes. "Hi, sorry for just running off like that…" she said, trying to keep her eyes on the ground.

Aerith smiled kindly at Tifa. "It's okay, we understand." She said.

Tifa sat down on the other couch beside Elena, then smiled at Cloud and Aerith. "I'm really happy for the two of you," she said simply with a trembling voice.

Aerith, Cloud and Elena were quiet while exchanging confused looks. They did not know if they should say something to Tifa or not or just change the subject; however, Aerith spoke up with a weak smile on her face, "Th…thank you, Tifa… anyway, if you're interested to visit us, we just live right across the street."

"Oh, so we're neighbors?" Tifa asked in disbelief.

Cloud let out a slight chuckle. "Yeah… we just passed by here to say hello. Red XIII's at home. After staying with the rest of AVALANCHE for a few years, Aerith and I just decided to move out since I don't want our son to grow up with too many people in the house." He explained.

"You have a son?" Elena asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, his name's Cliff. He'll be turning 18, 2 months from now." Aerith replied with a gentle smile on her face.

Tifa giggled. "I see…" she was about to say something more but she was interrupted when someone began to ring the doorbell. 

They all fell silent and exchanged perplexed looks. "Who could that be?" Elena asked.

"I'll get it," Tifa said, then turned to Elena, "Why don't you bring Aerith and Cloud some tea while I go and get the door," she continued as she stood up and headed for the door…


	6. chapter 6

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 6: Secrets and the Truth

Tiffany leaned back on backseat of the limousine and sighed gruffly as she crossed her arms and tapped her feet against the floor of the car. "Dammit… of all the days… why a flat tire now? And the stupid driver didn't bring a wrench or anything to remove the old tire and replace it with something new?!" she thought angrily. She looked outside the window and saw the driver scratching his head. She could tell that he was already worrying if she would fire him or not. "Nah… I can't lose another driver… I won't fire him…" she thought miserably before turning her gaze to Rufford, who was already standing by the door of a big house. She saw him press the doorbell button.

"This is embarrassing… a ShinRa like me asking for assistance from common citizens…" she thought silently before a thought crossed her mind about Rufford. She narrowed her eyes on him. "Gee… he really resembles my dad…" she sighed and looked down sadly with a sad smile on her face. "I wonder what dad's really like if he's still alive now…" she said aloud.

Rufford sighed heavily and flipped his hair, just when the front door opened up and there was Tifa. "Yes?" she asked with a cold look on her face.

Rufford's eyes grew wide upon seeing her and so did she. "T…" he almost said her name but he stopped himself before he could do so. He mentally smacked his head. "Damn it… I can't get busted right now…" he thought silently as he gaped at her. He looked away and cleared his throat before he smiled at her. "Hi, could we ask for a little help here?" he asked.

Tifa nodded slightly. "I…uh… okay… what's the problem?" she asked with a trembling voice. Suddenly, she wanted to cry. "Rufus?" she thought silently as she continued to stare at him.

Rufford turned back to the black limousine and gestured uneasily to the wheel. "Flat tire. We need some tools to change it." He replied.

Tifa frowned slightly. "He even sounds like Rufus…" she thought. Then, she looked away, "Damn it, Tifa… stop it! Rufus is dead and he's not coming back…" she thought miserably before she forced a weak smile at Rufford. "Do you have a spare tire?" she asked.

"Yeah, we do." He replied.

She nodded. "Okay, I'll just go and get the toolbox… would you like to wait here or would you like to have some tea first?" she asked.

"I think President ShinRa would love that. I'll go and ask that." He said with a sly smile before he walked back to the limo.

Tifa's eyes grew wide. "What?" she said. "You mean the President is here?" she asked.

Rufford turned back to her. "Yeah," he replied before he finally got to the limo.

Tiffany raised an eyebrow when Rufford opened the door. "The kind lady of the house is inviting us for tea inside. Would you like to have some while the driver is replacing the wheel?" he asked.

Tiffany was stunned, then turned to Tifa. 

Flashbacks of the woman from the pictures began to return to her. Something from deep inside her urged her to say yes, so she got out of the limo and walked to the front door of the house. She forced a smile at Tifa. "Hi… your name is?" she asked.

It took a while before Tifa answered, "Tifa ShinRa…" she said.

Tiffany froze for a moment and then flashed her a perplexed look. "How are you related to me?" she asked softly.

Rufford saw the perplexed look on Tiffany's face then turned back to Tifa to hear her explanation, but there wasn't any, instead, she ran back inside the house. "Excuse me," she called back to them before rushing upstairs.

Tiffany blinked and she basically wanted to run after Tifa, sensing something different from her instincts that she knows everything about Tiffany's true nature, but Rufford stopped her. "Let's just stay here for a while, your excellency." He said gently as he got her hand and squeezed it gently.

Tiffany felt some comfort upon his action, so she obeyed. 

They were about to leave but Cloud showed up. "What's going on? I heard Tifa run upstairs…" he trailed off when he saw Tiffany. "Gee… she really resembles both Tifa and Rufus…" he thought silently as he examined her features. Then, he turned to Rufford and greeted him by raising his eyebrows as if he had known him for a long time.

Rufford nodded seriously, then turned to Tiffany again. "President ShinRa, I would like you to meet Cloud Strife. He's an ex-SOLDIER from ShinRa when your grandfather was still alive." He said, rather gruffly when he arrived at the word _grandfather_.

Tiffany nodded slightly. "How do you do?" she asked with a slight smile as she offered a handshake.

Cloud turned to Rufford, as if asking whether he should accept the handshake or not, but Rufford just looked away from him. Cloud turned back to Tiffany with a sly smile on his face as he took her hand and shook it eagerly. "Fine thank you, your excellency." He replied before he let go.

From where she is, Tiffany turned her gaze inside the house, as if searching for someone then turned back to Cloud. "What happened to Miss ShinRa?" she asked.

Cloud looked back inside and then back to Tiffany with a hard look on his face. "I think she's mentally ill because of some problems..." He said before flashing Rufford a confused look.

Rufford just shrugged. "Anyway, Mister Strife, the reason why we're here is because we need some tools so that we can get our flat tire changed." He explained with a cold look on his face.

Cloud nodded. "Come inside first. You wouldn't want assassinations. Even if this city looks safer now than before, you still can't count on some of the citizens… who knows, there could be rebels hiding around somewhere." He replied as he stepped aside to let them in.

Tiffany frowned at what he said but she did not react. She just stepped inside and gazed around the house. "How are you related to Miss ShinRa?" she asked.

"I'm a friend of hers. We've known each other ever since childhood." He replied.

"And how is she related to me?" she added with a demanding look on her face, which resembled so much of her father's own demanding look whenever he would like to have immediate answers.

Cloud was silent for a while and then turned his gaze to the stairs. "Consider the fact that the spelling different. Yours has a capital R while hers has a small letter R. You get the idea," he said before proceeding to the living room. "Follow me." He said simply.

Rufford urged Tiffany to go ahead and he would just follow so she did.

"You have a pretty big place here," Tiffany remarked as she gazed around. Finally, they got to the living room.

Aerith and Elena were surprised upon seeing Cloud with Tiffany and Rufford. Elena instantly got up and bowed down at the sight of Tiffany ShinRa, President of the ShinRa Electric Power Company. "President ShinRa…" she said with respect.

Tiffany just looked down at her. "Stand up," she commanded. Elena stood up and smiled happily at the sight of her and then took her hand and squeezed it gently. "President ShinRa, it's really nice to have your presence here," she said as thoughts were whirling around her head like, "Should I tell her that her mother is just here? Say, where's Tifa? I thought she was the one who got the door?" 

Tiffany just looked at her. "You've been to ShinRa before, eh?" she asked.

"Of course, ma'am, I… I attend your annual parties there." Elena replied uneasily because she almost said, "I worked there before."

"I see, so that's why you look so familiar… though I think I've seen your face somewhere in the Turks' Files before when I was browsing through them. I think she just resembles you… and she also became my dad's personal secretary." Tiffany replied as Elena let go of her hand.

Elena pretended not to know anything so she asked, "Really? What happened to her?" 

Cloud went off for a while to search for the toolbox. 

Aerith gestured for Tiffany to sit down, so she did. Rufford just stood by the couch where Tiffany was seated. "I can't remember much anymore. I was only 12 when I saw her profile and when Reno saw that I was browsing through them, he got them away from me and threw them in the fireplace." She said with a frown on her face.

From the way she explained things and judging from her facial expression, Aerith and Elena could tell that Tiffany hated Reno so much.

There was silence for a few seconds until Aerith moved to pour Tiffany a cup of tea and offered it to her with a warm smile. "Here, I think you should relax. Being in ShinRa is rather stressful, am I correct?" she asked with a wink.

Tiffany smiled at what she said. "Yeah. If you want to know how to deal with nasty employees, you should take my job." She said as she eagerly took it and began to drink slowly. 

Aerith poured another cup for Rufford but he refused it. 

"I've been stressed out ever since I was 5. Imagine waking up early in the morning to the sound of the most annoying voice in the whole company and then all you wanted to do is to sit alone in the garden and play with your pet and let no one else bother you… but unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to enjoy those things… they've been treating me like an adult ever since I was 5 and it was really hard for me… I don't think I was even able to experience being a kid… and next month, I'll be turning 18… they'll be throwing another annoying party for me and they don't even realize that I don't enjoy parties because I don't know much of the people there and I refuse to socialize," Tiffany trailed off when she realized that she had said so much about her life. She just shook her head and placed the teacup down on the coffee table. "Sorry," she said as she leaned back on the couch and covered her face with her hands. 

Everyone was silent, observing her actions. Aerith felt so sorry for the young girl. Elena just kept her eyes on the ground. 

Tiffany removed her hands from her face and sighed heavily, though her breath sounded a little ragged, which made Aerith, Elena and Rufford realize that she was stopping herself from crying. "And now I'm looking for my supposedly-dead mother and nobody wants to help me…" she said softly with a trembling voice.

They were silent for a few seconds before Elena finally spoke up. "Would you like me to help you find her?" she asked with a soft tone.

Tiffany was about to say something more but they were interrupted when they heard Cloud's footsteps coming out from the kitchen. She did not reply but she just began to drink her tea.

Cloud turned to Rufford and handed him the toolbox. "Need help?" he asked.

"I think the driver can manage," Rufford replied as he got the toolbox. "President ShinRa, I'll be going outside for a while to give this to the driver." He said, turning to Tiffany.

Tiffany did not answer, but Rufford went on ahead, knowing that it was useless waiting for answers; she just continued to stare into empty space.

Elena waited until he got away, then she turned to the side table and pulled out an album from the shelf. She began to scan through the pages until she came across a very important picture. She smiled slightly at Tiffany and then handed her the album with the picture. "I think this can give you a clue." She said softly as Tiffany took the album and stared at it for a couple of minutes. Tiffany's eyes grew wide as she examined the photo and touched the faces on it. "It's…" she bit her lower lip and turned to the direction of the stairs. She smiled, though she felt so afraid of the consequences. "Why did Reno tell me that she's dead? There must be something wrong…" she thought silently before turning back to the picture.

Aerith and Cloud took a peek at the picture and they were both surprised to see that it was the wedding picture of Tifa and Rufus. 

Elena bowed down her head; a gentle smile was still on her face. "That's the only remaining picture of them together…" she said.

Tiffany turned to Elena. "Tell me everything. Explain to me the truth… everything… who am I?" she asked with a panicky tone as she quickly placed the photo album on top of the coffee table and immediately went to Elena and got her hand. "Tell me everything, please?" she pleaded with a trembling voice as her crimson eyes reflected too much hurt and longing for her lost parents.

Elena was silent for a while, then she looked up at Tiffany. "I once worked for ShinRa. I was one of the Turks and I also became your father's secretary. 17 years ago, a few weeks after you were born, there was a threat for your mother's life. As a loyal ShinRa employee, I decided to help her escape and take you with us, since I know that President Rufus would be angry if something bad happens to her, in case he was still around. Unfortunately, on the evening of our departure, Reno was able to kill your caretaker, Rude. I couldn't risk Tifa's life anymore so we just took off without you. Tifa Lockheart ShinRa is your mother and all the rumors that Reno was spreading around aren't true about her." she explained with a serious tone.

Tiffany's eyes grew wider in anticipation. Thoughts were flooding her mind. "That Reno…" she thought angrily as she slowly let go of Elena's hand. She wanted to cry but she stopped herself. "No one should see me cry…" she thought miserably. 


	7. chapter 7

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 7: Rufus

Rufford went back inside but he just stood by the doorway, listening to the explanation. He bit his lower lip and leaned against the doorway as he swallowed hard. Hearing Elena's explanation was too much for him…

He never knew from way back that Reno was the one who hated Tifa.

"_They hate me!_"

He could still remember her statement during the dawn of the supposedly wedding night…

His blue eyes turned to Tiffany with a cold gaze, but deep within the depths of his soul, he felt so much pain for her…

*** 

Rufus could hear someone digging up the soil from above him. "Damn it…it's about time…" he thought miserably.

_He waited for 10 more minutes until he finally saw the light of day when somebody had opened the lid of the coffin where he was lying in for almost a week already. _

_It was Cloud Strife and with him were Vincent Valentine and Red XIII. _

_Cloud carefully removed the glass and after he finally got rid of the glass, Rufus inhaled quickly. "What took you guys so long? I almost suffocated down there?" he demanded._

_"Well be thankful that we came despite being late." Vincent told him._

_"And be thankful that we agreed to help you with your plan despite the fact that you are a ShinRa." Cloud continued with a cross look on his face._

_Rufus sat up straight and stretched. Vincent and Cloud helped him up. He could not believe that he was going through all of those, and he even resorted to deceiving every single member of ShinRa including his wife and his unborn child, just to find out who was behind every single commotion within the walls of ShinRa. "They think that I am unaware of the shit they're doing to Tifa…and they're even threatening her that if she tells on them, they'll get rid of her… well if she won't speak up, I'll do the investigation myself…" he thought silently as he turned to the direction of the ShinRa mansion, several meters away from the cemetery._

_"So, what now? Remember the deal?" Cloud asked, turning back to Rufus._

_Rufus shrugged and reached for his pocket. "Here," he said as he pulled out a few tablets and handed them to Cloud. "These are the remaining tablets from Hojo's lab. I got them a day before I supposedly kicked the bucket… but anyway, here they are. Just drop 5 of those in a cold glass of water and wait for it to dissolve. If there are still a few remaining grains, mix it thoroughly with a teaspoon. The liquid will appear blue, but continue to stir until it turns clear and colourless again. Drink it and after a few moments, you will be drifting off into a deep sleep. Once you are asleep, make sure that no one is in the room with you. Your body will be taken into the lifestream, yet I don't know if it's astral travel or it's in literal terms, but trust me, it will work." He explained._

_"If it really works, how come you did not try it?" Red XIII asked._

_Rufus flipped his hair. "Hojo kept that as a secret." He explained before turning away._

_"Wait, Rufus," Vincent called out._

_Rufus stopped and turned back to them._

_"Why don't you join AVALANCHE for a while so that you won't appear suspicious?" Cloud asked with a serious look on his face. _

_Rufus turned back to the ShinRa mansion and then to Cloud once again with a slight smile on his face. "Alright," he agreed before he started back to Cloud, Vincent and Red XIII._

_"After all, this is for Tifa," Vincent told him._

_Rufus nodded slightly, keeping his eyes on the ground…_


	8. chapter 8

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 8: In the Train to Nibelheim

Tifa continued to walk briskly until she finally arrived at the train station. She pulled out a couple of Gil and headed over to the ticket booth, but she stopped when a young man with brownish hair and blue eyes approached her. "Excuse me, ma'am, do you have change for 500? I'm supposed to go to Nibelheim to fetch more of my things…" he said.

Tifa examined the boy. "Nibelheim? Well… I'm heading there myself. What's your name?" she asked.

"Cliff… I'm really from Nibelheim but my parents decided to move in here. I traveled with them plus their friend. I kinda left some of my stuff back there." he explained with a sheepish look on his face.

Tifa nodded and smiled gently. "I see… your parents are Cloud and Aerith?" she asked.

Cliff was stunned. "Yeah, how did you know?" he asked as she flipped his hair.

"Well… they're my friends, you see. Anyway, if you'd like to, you can travel with me. I'll pay for our tickets." She told him with a kind smile on her face.

Cliff nodded and chuckled. "Okay, Ma'am… you must be Tifa Lockheart." He said.

"It's actually Tifa Lockheart-ShinRa… Anyway, let's get going. We wouldn't wanna miss the next train." She said as she led the way and pulled out more money as they headed for the ticket booth. "Two for Nibelheim please. First Class." She told the man behind the ticket booth.

The man smiled at her and nodded, then handed her 2 First Class tickets. "Here you go." He said.

Tifa got the tickets and nodded at the man as thanks with a cold look on her face.

"You sure look so familiar…" the man said with a weak smile on his face.

Tifa's eyes narrowed on him as she gazed at him coldly.

The man just smiled at her. "Well, I remember the First Lady because of you… but who cares… she's dead, I guess." He explained.

"Maybe she is alive and she's just plotting revenge because the officers of her husband had treated her like shit when she's still the First Lady of ShinRa." She said with a sarcastic look on her face before she walked away. "Let's go, Cliff," she summoned.

Cliff eyed the man with an apologetic look before he proceeded after Tifa. "Are okay, Mrs. ShinRa?" he asked.

Tifa covered her face for a few seconds before she got aboard the train. "Yes, I'm okay." She explained.

As soon as they got to their seats, the train began to move. A man approached them to gather their tickets, and after doing so, Cliff spoke up with a kind smile on his face. "Mrs. ShinRa, where exactly in Nibelheim are you going?"

Tifa did not look at him but she just looked outside the window, observing the darkness of the tunnel. "The cemetery… I haven't visited the grave of my husband for 17 years already… I just want to go there for a while so that I could ease my sadness for even a little… by the way, why are you calling me _'Mrs. ShinRa'_?" she asked before she turned back to Cliff with a blank look on her face.

"Isn't that your surname? I can't call you '_Miss Lockheart_', because obviously, you are a married woman already… at least that's what my mom and dad had told me…" he explained before he turned his gaze to the magazine resting on the coffee table before them. He got it and flipped through the pages. "Everyone thought that you were dead already, but fortunately, we were able to trace where you are because of…" he trailed off when he remembered something. "Shit… I almost said the name…" he thought angrily to himself.

Tifa fixed her eyes on him. "Because of who?" she asked inquiringly with a demanding tone. She began to feel nervous. "Somebody knows who I am… somebody whom I don't even know…" she thought silently.

Cliff just faked a smile. "Sorry… I stopped talking because… I saw her picture." He said while showing her the picture of Tiffany ShinRa from one of the magazine pages. An article was written about her life and her family. Tifa even saw the question, "_Did her mother really leave her behind?_" and it made her frown. "How dare they write this…" she thought angrily as she bit her lip. She looked away and crossed her arms. "Well then, who was the person?" she asked.

"What person?" Cliff asked as he placed the magazine beside him.

Tifa turned to him with a silly smile on her face. "You just saw the picture of President Tiffany ShinRa and you lost your thoughts already…" she said teasingly.

Cliff raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Well… hehehe… not really but… she's really a pretty girl, you know…" he said, then he froze when he realized that he was talking to the mother of Tiffany ShinRa. His eyes grew wide in shock and so he just looked away while clearing his throat. He just shoved his hands inside his pockets uneasily which made Tifa giggle. "He's a mixture of Aerith and Cloud…" she realized silently as she covered her mouth to prevent herself from laughing out loud.

"Anyway, you can meet her anytime… if you'd care to join SOLDIER or ShinRa's executives. I'm sure your parents trained you well," she told him reassuringly.

"My father does not want me to join SOLDIER but he said that it's okay if I can join the executives… if I am competent enough…" he replied.

Tifa nodded. "You sound competent… though ShinRa is a big shark tank, I have to warn you though…" she stopped when a haggard-looking man with long red hair entered the First Class section. Her eyes grew wide in astonishment the moment she was able to recognize who he was. "Reno…" she thought silently as she tried her best to avoid gaping at him in disbelief.

The man who ruined her life…

The man who tried to separate her from her Rufus and Tiffany…

…and he succeeded.

She felt as if her blood was boiling at the sight of him, so she just looked away. She heard him say to the security guard, "There are no more seats?"

"I'm sorry sir. First Class has limited seats. You can just share a booth with others." The security guard replied.

Reno sneered before proceeding, searching for seats.

Cliff gazed around, noticing that all the booths had four or five persons occupying it, except for theirs. He identified the uneasiness from Tifa's eyes, so he just decided to lie down on his couch and pretended to be asleep. Tifa wondered if she should do the same, but she did not want to appear suspicious, so she just sat still; she could feel her own heart pounding against her chest. She clasped her hands tightly together as she stiffened when she heard his footsteps coming closer. She turned her gaze to the coffee table before she reached for her purse and pulled out some shades. After wearing them, she turned her gaze to the window and placed her purse beside her, deciding that she needed to fill the empty spaces within her couch. "Damn it… can't he just sit on the floor or just stand up near the door? Hey, why didn't the guard seize him? Don't they know that he's a very dangerous man? He tried to kill me! Oh darn, they don't know… they don't know because he's a clever man and he even blackmailed me… damn him…telling lies to Tiffany…" angry thoughts were whirling around her head until Reno finally came to her with a sly smile on his face. "Hi, miss," he greeted suavely while eyeing her clothing which consisted of a maroon blazer, a long maroon skirt, black leather boots, white gloves, a maroon hat with a white ribbon and a white collared blouse. For him, she looked rather sophisticated. Tifa turned her head to his direction, keeping her eyes on him. Reno was a little disappointed that her glasses were so dark that he could not see her eyes through them, "She must be very lovely without those," he thought quietly as his smile widened, but she frowned in return.

"May I share your seat?" he asked coolly.

Tifa knew that if she refused, he would just be stubborn enough to force her to move so that he could sit down beside her. "Choose, Tifa…either wake up Cliff and make this goofball sit beside him _facing you_, or make him sit down beside you and he won't make out your features too well if he sees your side view much often…" she thought quietly before she moved to her right, close enough to the window.

Reno nodded his head. "Thanks," he said before he sat down and leaned backward. He turned to Cliff and then back to Tifa. "Is he your son?" he asked.

Tifa just shook her head but she kept her eyes on the coffee table.

"Are you single?" he asked with a suave tone.

Tifa continued to fight the urge to punch his nose. "Oh no, I'm already married to Rufus ShinRa, the most powerful man on earth!" she would like to say that to him, but she stopped herself and just shook her head.

Reno's smile faded and it was replaced by a disappointed look. "I see…" he said softly before he moved closer. "Well, where's your husband?" And he turned to Cliff. "Is he your husband?" he asked.

Tifa raised an eyebrow and shook her head frantically.

"Well then, where is your husband?" he asked.

"Shit to his face… can't he stop asking questions?" she thought angrily before she muttered with a low voice, "He's dead and rotting in the ground. I'm off to Nibelheim to visit his grave, now shut up. I want to concentrate. I'm trying to get over my sadness. He's everything I ever had…"

Reno was stunned, then he cleared his throat after a few seconds of silence. He scratched his head. "Well… I think it's really about time that you forget him… how long has he been dead?" he asked.

"Seventeen years…" she said, trying to keep her voice in low monotone so that he would not recognize her through it.

He was quiet for a while but he spoke up again. "Really now… but… do you have any children?" he asked.

"We have a daughter… but if it weren't for this man who ruined my life, she'd still be here with me… unfortunately, she's living in a big castle and that man who's an ogre is taking care of her and telling her lies about me, her mother." She explained through clenched teeth.

Reno was silent. "Gee… sorry for that…" he said with a sad look on his face.

"Sorry my ass! How insensitive can you get?! That ogre is you!" she thought angrily as she clenched her fists. She just bowed down her head as she felt her whole head throbbing in pulsating pain due to unexpressed anger. "I wonder when this train will arrive at Nibelheim…" she thought miserably. "And what's this dork doing here? Isn't he supposed to be in ShinRa, guarding the place while Tiffany isn't around?" she thought quietly as she turned her gaze to the window and the moment she did so, she immediately saw Reno's reflection. He was holding a bunch of blank checks with Tiffany ShinRa's signatures. She recognized those as salary checks, but she began to wonder as she looked at it. "How come they're blank… and from what I could recall, I think the ShinRa employees' and the Turks' salaries come at the end of each month… it's only the second week…" she thought silently as she frowned. "… nah, maybe those are his past checks… but why the hell are they blank?!" she thought in total curiosity, but she did not ask any more questions.


	9. chapter 9

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 9: Rufus

"Let me at the door," Cloud told Aerith, making her step aside before he started knocking frantically on the door. "Tifa? C'mon, open the door! This isn't funny!" he called out.

There was still no answer from inside.

Cloud rattled the doorknob, trying to twist it so he could open the door, but it was useless. "She locked it," he announced.

Tiffany placed her hands on her face, covering it for a few moments as she took a deep breath and sighed. She removed her hands from her face and clenched her fists. "If Reno hated her, and I am her daughter… how come I am still alive? What is he planning to do?" she thought with a deep frown on her face.

"I don't like this…" Elena told them as she grasped the doorknob tightly and tried to open the door. "Tifa! Are you in there?" she called out with a worried tone.

Rufford clenched his fists as he leaned against the wall and shoved his hands inside his pockets uneasily while keeping his eyes on the floor.

Cloud and Aerith turned their gazes to Rufford, then back to the door. "Don't you have a key?" they heard Rufford ask Elena.

Elena stiffened, somewhat affected by the tone of Rufford's impatient tone. "I thought for a second there that he's President Rufus…" she thought with a look of wonder on her face. "I don't know where Tifa hid the keys to her room…" she admitted with an embarrassed look on her face. 

Rufford's gaze narrowed at Elena. "Well, you were an ex-Turk, right?" he asked.

"Uhm… yeah… why? What's that got to do with the door?" she asked with an inquiring look.

Rufford pointed at the doorknob. "You've been taught how to pick locks. Do it." He explained with a stiff tone.

Elena froze. "R…right…" she said with a trembling tone before she began to look around. "Uh… does anyone have anything pointy?" she asked.

Aerith pulled a hairpin from her head and gave it to Elena. "Here."

Elena smiled as thanks before she accepted it. Then, she turned to Rufford with a curious look on her face. "Who is this guy? I thought he's new to the Turks? How come he knows this?" she thought silently before she began to pick on the lock. After a few seconds, she heard a click. She smiled victoriously and removed the hairpin from the keyhole, until finally, she opened the door, revealing to everyone a big bedroom with dark furnishings. 

Rufford was stunned, so were Cloud and Aerith.

"How could a seemingly-happy girl like Tifa be so… so…" Aerith wondered as she got inside.

Elena smiled sadly, but it faded when she saw the open window. "Oh no…" she said in shock before she ran to the window. She looked outside but there was no sign of Tifa.

Rufford turned to the bedside table and saw a picture frame with Tifa and Rufus's picture taken during their first dinner date. He smiled at the sight of it, but he frowned when he saw a folded piece of paper beside the picture. He quickly got it and flipped it open, reading it aloud, "Dear Elena, I'll be gone for a while… please take care… Tifa."

Elena's eyes grew wide in surprise before she ran to Rufford and grabbed the note away from him. She read the note repeatedly for five more times, silently, her frown deepening but her eyes reflecting too much worry. "What is she talking about? Where is she going?" she said in total confusion.

"Maybe she just decided to take a walk or something." Cloud replied.

"She never leaves this house. She hated walking around Midgar because she's afraid that Reno might find her and kill her!" Elena explained.

"Kill her?" Rufford and Tiffany repeated with twitching eyebrows. 

Cloud, Aerith and Elena could tell that the two weren't so happy upon hearing that.

"That's what Reno's been trying to do: To get rid of her… a.k.a., Kill her. Ever since she married President Rufus, that's what he's been trying to do and I don't know why he hates the poor girl but she hasn't really done anything bad!" Elena replied as she approached Tiffany and handed her the note.

_"They hate me!"_

Tifa's words kept whirling around Rufford's head until he finally decided to turn away from everyone. "I'll… I'll go check if the car is ready, your excellency." He told Tiffany.

Tiffany nodded silently with a blank stare as she gazed at the floor. 

Rufford took one last look at Tiffany before he got out of the room.

Cloud followed him with his gaze before he decided to personally follow him downstairs. 

Rufford ignored the footsteps from behind him, knowing that it was only Cloud. "Go away, I don't want to talk about it." He snapped before stopping by the front door to open it, but before he could open the door, Cloud spoke up with a stiff tone, "Rufus,"

Rufford frowned and his eyes narrowed at Cloud the moment he turned to face him. "Don't call me that. If Elena or Tiffany heard that, my plans are over!" he said in a whispery tone as he collared him.

Cloud pushed him away. "Hey, watch it!" he snapped angrily.

Rufus turned away and flipped his hair. "I need to do this for the sake of my family, okay? Someone wants to destroy ShinRa by taking over it. I won't let that happen." He explained before he opened the door and finally got out of the house.

Cloud bowed down his head, thinking of the present people in-charge of ShinRa. "Now… who hates Tifa so much?" he thought as he opened the door and saw Rufus checking the tires. Cloud turned his gaze to the direction of the ShinRa tower and frowned, and then turned back to Rufus. "Hey, Rufford. May I have a word with you?" he asked.

Rufus turned to Cloud. "What?" he asked before approaching.

Cloud spoke up in a low whispery tone, "You'd better watch out for Reno… and while you're inside that place, watch your daughter as well. It is possible that he is using her for something… I know that your daughter is the smartest girl in the whole area but that Reno could be the slyest person inside that building. If you want her to live, you must protect her."

Rufus's eyes narrowed at him. "That's what I'm doing. I did not just enter ShinRa's territory and applied as a Turk so that I could spy on Reno and everyone below the President… but also to protect my daughter." He replied with a sly smile.

Cloud was quiet for a while, but he spoke up when he heard Tiffany's voice from upstairs talking to Elena and Aerith about Tifa. "I was wondering if you could use additional help from me. You know, I don't want to sound so moronic, but I really owe you a lot for bringing Aerith back to me." He said with a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

Rufus chuckled lightly. "No problem. I also owe you a lot for helping me out with this… though I'm not sure if in the end, you'll kill me for being a ShinRa." He joked.

Cloud had to smile because of what he said. "No way, I wouldn't want Tifa to be sad." He said.

Rufus's face stiffened. "No hard feelings, but did you have anything going with Tifa before?" he asked with a low tone, Cloud sensing that there are hints of jealousy in it, so he laughed heartily. Rufus raised an eyebrow, feeling ticked off. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

Cloud stopped laughing and his face turned serious. "No. There wasn't any. Believe me, I swear to God. She was just this sort of best friend that I had when I was a little boy. Thank goodness you came into her life and stole her out of my spotlight." He said as he shoved his hands inside his pockets and flashed his new friend a silly smile on his face. "C'mon, Rufford, don't be jealous." He teased.

Rufus shook his head in disbelief. "Well, now that you've explained it, I'm convinced… now, where could she have gone off to?" he asked as he turned to the direction of the ShinRa building. "You think I'll succeed in getting everything back?" he asked.

Cloud followed his gaze and frowned. "We will do everything." He replied with a determined tone…


	10. chapter 10

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 10: Elena

            Reno let out a belch after drinking a can of root beer. "Well, this ain't real beer but I'll get used to it… for this trip only…" he said with a pleased tone before turning his gaze to the woman seated beside him. "So, would you like some?" he asked.

Tifa turned back to him and raised an eyebrow. She looked away. "I don't like carbonated beverages, they ruin my diet." She fibbed with a low tone.

Cliff rolled his eyes as he shook his head in disbelief. "Of all the passengers that could sit with us, why him?" he thought miserably, dreading every moment that passed by as long as Reno was in their booth.

"Okay, you don't have to be too cynical." Reno stated with a keen smile on his face as he placed the can of root beer on the floor beside him.

"I don't see anything cynical from what she said," Cliff stated flatly while keeping his eye on Reno.

"Oh, so you're awake? What's your name?" Reno asked, turning to Cliff with a cool look on his face.

"Cliff." The young man replied with a stiff tone.

"I see…" Reno said, thinking of something more to say.

"This is so out of character for him… why is he so talkative?" Tifa thought silently as she stared at Reno's reflection on the glass window. 

"So, where are you working?" Cliff asked.

"Good kid… he's probing him…" Tifa realized as she turned her gaze to Cliff.

Cliff quickly gave her a reassuring look that he would do anything to make Reno ignore her.

"None of your business, kid." Reno said as he leaned back on the seat.

"ShinRa?" Cliff asked.

Reno stared at him for a while. "Yeah." He replied.

"What position? Are you the general?" Cliff asked with an inquiring tone.

Reno did not bother to answer the question but he just started to count the money inside his wallet and then see whether the blank checks are in order, but upon closing the wallet, a small picture of a woman fell off from inside. Cliff caught a quick glimpse at the photo and his eyes grew wide in surprise. "Who's that?" he asked as Reno reached down to the floor to pick it up.

"No one in particular." Reno replied.

Cliff began to think and then stood up. "Oh well… I'm going to buy a drink over there…" he said before he left.

Tifa wondered what was going on in the boy's head. 

Reno sighed heavily as he took one last look at the picture of the blonde woman and then placed it inside his wallet again.

After five minutes, Cliff returned with 20 cans of beer.

Tifa's eyes grew wide behind her dark glasses as she saw the 20 cans of beer. Cliff placed the 20 cans beside him as soon as he sat down. 

Reno was staring at him unbelievably. "They have beer?" he asked.

"Yeah. I got 20 because I thought I needed a drink or something… want some?" Cliff asked with a calm smile on his face.

Tifa just crossed her arms and looked away.

Reno got a can of beer, pulled off the tab and began to drink, literally gulping down its contents. 

Cliff offered him more after he finished one and another, while he barely drank his share. While Reno wasn't looking, Cliff got a tablet from his pocket and dropped it inside the can that he was supposed to be drinking. He began to shake it carefully as Reno finished the 19th can. After he did so, Reno belched again and let out a loud laugh.

Cliff smiled calmly at him and offered him the spiked drink. "Hey, I didn't finish mine. Want to have it?" he asked.

Reno eagerly took it and gulped down its contents in a matter of seconds. "Thanks, kid." He said.

"Don't mention it, sir." Cliff replied with an eager smile on his face before turning to Tifa and giving her a wink.

Tifa finally realized that Cliff was going to do some interrogation. "This kid's good…" she realized with a slight smile on her face.

"Hey, you know what?" Reno asked, leaning forward and patting Cliff's shoulder.

Cliff still managed to have a straight face as he looked at Reno. "What?" he asked, pretending to care.

Reno smiled at him. "The girl in the photo is the one that I really love so much…" he said.

"Really?" Cliff asked.

Tifa turned to Reno and studied him. "He's very drunk… I wonder what Cliff did to his drink…" she thought silently.

"Well then, what's her name?" Cliff continued.

"Elena," Reno replied before he finally collapsed to the floor.

Cliff and Tifa were silent as they observed whether he could still move or not. Finally, after 10 minutes of silence, they looked at each other. "That was a really mean trick, but I congratulate you," she told him with a proud smile.

Cliff shrugged. "No problem, Mrs. ShinRa." He said with a proud smile as he bent down to get all the blank checks from Reno and placed everything inside his pockets. 

"Next stop, Nibelheim," the announcer said.

"Finally!" Tifa said.

After five more minutes, the train stopped.

Cliff and Tifa got off the train, leaving Reno there, sleeping soundly.


	11. chapter 11

ShinRa

By: Quistis & Xu

Disclaimer: We don't own anything but our minds and our own sanities.

Authors' Notes: This is the Sequel to **_"Diary of the First Lady"_** by General Quistis.

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Chapter 11: The Empty Grave

            Cliff and Tifa finally arrived at the cemetery. As they were walking, she was wondering how he knew about Reno being a little bit of an alcoholic.

"So, Cliff… how are your parents?" she asked.

"They're fine. We live right across the street from your house, Madame." He replied with a slight smile on his face before turning to her. "Don't mind me asking, ma'am, but how come you decided to visit your husband's grave?" he asked.

Tifa was quiet for a while; she only answered when they already got to the mausoleum. "I haven't been able to visit ever since the burial…" 

She tried to open the door but it was locked. She sighed heavily. 

Cliff got a Swiss knife from his pocket. "Let me open it," he said before she stepped aside. He began to pick the lock, but he stopped when Tifa nudged him. He looked up at her and she had this stern look on her face which told him to stop because someone was coming. Cliff hid the Swiss knife in his pocket and just pretended to be examining the lock. "I wonder where's the key," he stated, pretending to act casual.

Tifa turned to the man who was approaching them. It was the old caretaker of the cemetery. "Excuse me, but are you related to the ShinRas?" the man asked.

Tifa nodded. "I happen to be Rufus's wife." She explained.

Cliff was surprised that Tifa admitted the truth to the caretaker.

The caretaker's mouth dropped open. "Oh my God! Mrs. ShinRa… I never expected… you're alive?" he said in disbelief.

Tifa raised an eyebrow and removed her shades. "Of course, I'm alive! Whoever told you that I was dead lied!" she snapped angrily.

The caretaker calmed down a little, but he wondered why he could feel that something had changed in Tifa. He could recall that he had known her ever since she was a little girl, when her mother died. He was in his mid 20's back then, and he remembered her to be sweet and loving… compared to the Tifa now: seemingly cold and heartless.

"Oh… I remember. She's a ShinRa." He thought disappointedly. He forced a smile. "I'm sorry for the mistake, Ma'am… but news came to town that you're dead. But… how could…" 

"Oh, pish posh! Those are nasty rumors. Now, why is this locked?" she demanded from the old man.

The old man blinked twice, sensing the angst from Tifa. "Well… uhm… there's nothing there, ma'am." He explained with a shaky tone.

Tifa frowned. "Nothing there? What do you mean?" she demanded impatiently.

Cliff frowned and faced the old man, waiting for an answer.

The old man took off his straw hat and he had this confused look on his face. "Days after the funeral, somebody stole the body… and it's been missing ever since! It's like President Rufus was alive and…" he stammered.

Tifa's eyes grew wide in shock. "WHAT?!" she said shrilly before marching to the old man with clenched fists. "Are you telling me that some heartless idiot stole the body of my Rufus ShinRa? Why would they even want to do that? Was he that unpleasant and cruel to everyone that they're gonna do something to his cadaver?" she snapped angrily.

Cliff's eyes narrowed at the old man. "Did you see those who stole it?" he asked.

The old man turned to him and shook his head. "I don't know…" he said with a disappointed look on his face.

"Did anybody else visit this mausoleum besides his immediate family members?" Tifa asked with a troubled look on her face. "No one… but I think several years ago, the daughter came here to visit. She was around seven at that time, I believe…" the old man explained, but trailed off when he saw the look of confusion from her face.

Tifa was beginning to feel paranoid and she could feel her surroundings spinning. She just bit her lower lip and covered her mouth with her right hand before she ran off.

Cliff, puzzled at first, ran after her, but she was too fast…

*** 


	12. chapter 12

ShinRa

By: General Quistis & Zhakeena

General Quistis's Note: Uhm… I'm so sorry for the very long delay, but at least the 12th chapter is here! I know Reno is very out of character in this one (almost like he's crazy) because of his morbidity, but there's a reason behind that. I'll let you know later on. ;) looks around for Zhakeena Oh yes, I wrote this chapter alone… all by myself… without my cousin's help! Wheee!!!!! o' turns glum again But I'll make her write some parts of the 13th chapter with me. Thanks also to my very good friend in this place, Kage, for offering to help in this fic.

And now, the show must go on… so…

It's show time!

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Chapter 12: The Girl in Black

"Who's there?" Barret called out from inside the house.

Vincent looked up from the newspaper that he was reading when he heard the knocking on the door.

"It's me, Cliff!" the familiar voice called out from outside.

Barret smiled slyly. "Gosh, I thought he'd forgotten about his stereo and scooter. I could just sell them if he just completely forgotten about those…" he muttered.

Vincent just rolled his eyes and proceeded to read. "Told you he'd come back to get them." He said.

Barret opened the door and he saw the young man panting hard but still trying hard to smile cheerfully, but in his eyes, worry could be clearly seen. "Hey, what's wrong? Been runnin' from the feds?" he asked.

Cliff stepped inside, still panting. "I… I just came from Midgar… and Mrs. ShinRa's with me… but I lost her… I don't know where she went!" he explained.

Barret raised an eyebrow. "Mrs. ShinRa?" he asked.

Vincent put down the newspaper and got up from the sofa. "He meant Tifa! Don't you remember that she married Rufus?" he asked as he approached Cliff. "What is Tifa doing here in Nibelheim?" he demanded.

"She wanted to visit Mister Rufus's grave but she just found out that it's empty…" Cliff explained.

"I thought that the foo' already met up with her? Doesn't she know that the blonde guy just had a make-over and quit using damn gel to make his hair fall to his face instead of brushing it back?" Barret asked with a confused look on his face.

"You know the plan, Mister Barret. Mister Rufus has a strategy." Cliff reasoned with a silly look on his face. "Look, we gotta look for her. Nobody should recognize her for now!" he continued with a serious look on his face.

Barret rolled his eyes and then turned to Vincent. "I don't even know why we're helping that ShinRa brat… but since Tifa's our old friend, let's get goin'." He said with a weak smile before stepping out of the house.

"Who's gonna guard the house?" Cliff asked as Vincent followed Barret.

"Yuffie went to the market to buy some food, Cid's out making rounds. They should be back in no time; but since you're here, you guard the house." Barret instructed before he completely got out of the house.

Cliff made a disgusted face before he shut the door. "Great. It's always me. I always end up guarding the house… oh well, at least this is the last time I'd be doing this. Good thing mom and dad decided to just move out of this _dormitory_." He muttered glumly before he sat down and got the newspaper that Vincent Valentine was reading moments ago. He flipped to the second page and saw an article there about Tiffany ShinRa and her upcoming 18th birthday celebration…

And he turned to her picture on the right side of the page and then read the caption, "A very rare smile from the ShinRa President."

He raised his eyebrows as he turned back to the picture. She was smiling. "Must be a candid shot," he thought.

Everybody knew that she seldom smiled; if she did, it would look mean and unbearable to look at.

But even so, he loved her smile.

Ever since he was a little boy, he's been seeing her pictures everywhere. He asked his father, Cloud, who she is, and that's when he said that she was Mister Rufus's daughter.

Rufus, the one they're helping.

Cliff chuckled lightly when he even recalled Barret telling him, "Why, you like that gal? Gotta warn you, though… don't be a darn foo' to fall in-love with a ShinRa. You'll end up dying in the end just like Tifa."

He recalled crying that day. He put down the newspaper. "Well, I was only 6 at that time…" he realized.

Then, another flashback returned to him; just after Barret had told him that, Rufus approached him and sat down beside him, patting his back. "What's the matter, Cliff? Did that big ol' bear say something mean against you again?"

The little boy sniffed, nodding his head.

Rufus just smiled calmly at him and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't listen to him. I'm sure Tiffany will like you." He said reassuringly.

Cliff smiled at the memory and shook his head in disbelief. Rufus had been like a second father to him and he was the one who taught him how to use and fire a rifle and a shotgun and he was also the one who insisted on sending him to school and paid for everything, not even listening to Cloud and Aerith when they protested against letting Rufus pay for everything regarding Cliff's education. "At least let us pay for our share, Rufus," Cliff recalled hearing his mother telling Rufus that.

"No." was all Rufus had replied.

Cliff looked at the picture on the newspaper again and stared at it for couple of minutes before another flashback began to return to his mind… When it did so, his eyes grew wide in astonishment.

Cliff just got out of the school building and was about to go home when he passed by the cemetery. In front of the gate of the cemetery, he saw a black limousine parked diagonally, blocking the entire driveway. He was about to let it be but he stopped walking when a blonde little girl caught his attention. She was calling his attention. "Excuse me," she said.

_Cliff turned to the little girl. She was a little bit shorter than he is. He did not speak._

_The little girl was in all-black and he thought that she was a witch, but he dismissed the idea when he realized that she could be a passenger of the limo. She smiled at him. "I can't seem to find my manservant. Have you seen a redhead guy that's tall and looks like this?" she imitated a drunken face which made him laugh. "Haha! No, I haven't. Why?" he asked._

_She giggled. "I've been running away from him ever since this morning when we arrived here in Nibelheim to visit my papa's burial site…I can't find him and I'm supposed to be heading home now. Today's my papa's death anniversary that's why we're here…" she explained with a mixed expression of sadness and gladness on her face._

_Cliff thought for a while. "Who's your papa?" he asked._

_Before she could answer, they heard a man's voice from somewhere._

_"Tiffany!"_

_Cliff saw the man and it somewhat scared him that he ran away when the little girl was not looking._

He sighed, looking at the picture. "Okay… so that was her…" he muttered glumly.

Remembering the past and every picture he had seen of her on the newspapers, he realized that the reason why he really wanted to join SOLDIER is to be within ShinRa's grap… meaning, be able to be with Tiffany even if it's just a somewhat an outside factor. "But she goes to Junon, right?" he thought. Unless he gets to work in ShinRa main HQ in Midgar… He just laughed at himself, feeling so silly. "Crap… talk about having a dream like that…" he muttered miserably before he went over to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water.

            Tifa stopped running when she could not take it anymore. Where would she go anyway? She felt so tired and all she wanted to do was fall to the ground and just sleep… forever. She was panting hard already as she leaned against an electric post, trying to catch her breath. No matter how hard she wanted to let out more of her tears, it would seem to her that her tear ducts had given up on her already after all those years of suffering alone without her Rufus and her daughter. Angrily, she pounded an angry fist against the electric post, causing it to slightly lean backward from its normal position. She saw some lights fluctuate from inside the homes within the area because of what she did. "Bloody hell…" she cursed before she caught sight of the well.

Several memories from the past flooded her mind when she saw the well…

Shrugging them off her thoughts, she retained composure before proceeding to the well. Slowly, she climbed up onto it just like how she did before when she was still younger. By the time she reached the top, she felt the cool Nibelheim breeze blow against her face. But she did not smile. She took a good look at the view from the top, and then sat down comfortably on the lid of the well. She remembered that she used to go there to relax, and at present, she just wanted to do the same.

"Ma'am, what are you doing up there? It's dangerous!" Tifa frowned when she heard the voice coming from down on the street. She did not remember that she did not have her sunglasses on, so she wondered why the person suddenly looked afraid and intimidated by her when she glared coldly at him. "Why? Is it illegal to climb up here and take a look at Nibelheim?" she demanded rather stiffly…

She reminded herself of her late husband.

The man stared curiously into her eyes… and examined her features and her clothes. She looked like a rich woman… and he has seen her before. "Hey, you're the woman from the train!" the man told her.

Tifa narrowed her eyes at him before she felt her heart skip a beat. "Bloody hell… it's Reno…" she thought in sudden panic. A strong breeze that came from the north suddenly blew off her wide-brimmed hat, exposing more of her facial features when the afternoon sun shed its gaze onto it…

Reno's eyes widened upon seeing her. It was like seeing a ghost. "You… you're dead!" he pointed out.

She just sat still and looked away. She was tired. If he would kill her, then may she die immediately so that she could join her husband already.

"Tifa Lockheart…" Reno said rather grudgingly with a smile on his face.

She got up and gazed down at him with a stuck-up look on her face… a look that he has never seen in her before. "ShinRa. Tifa ShinRa." She said arrogantly before flipping her hair. She wondered if her skills from her youth are still intact… because she thought of jumping off from that high place… in her high heels.

He just smiled mockingly at her. "You were never even a ShinRa to me… not ever! And you will never be a ShinRa!" he sneered at her.

"What, may I ask, are you doing in this place? Aren't you supposed to be in hell?" she asked snottily, feeling annoyed at what he said. She wanted to beat the crap out of him already, but she knew she must wait.

Reno laughed at what she said. "You're beginning to sound like your dead husband." He said airily.

"Dead because of you!" she jumped off, surprising him. She landed perfectly on the ground before him, her hands clenched into very tight fists. "Bloody thanks to you, my life became miserable." She told him stiffly with a slight grin on her face. "No more Miss Nice Girl." She told him.

"Hah. The whole world will know that you faked your death to get away with your crime of killing your husband." He told her mockingly.

"Lord knows I didn't do anything. You were the one who killed him. And to make things worse, you took away the only memory of him left to me!" she told him angrily.

He just smiled at her. "And what, I ask, is that?" he asked.

She did not answer anymore. She just attacked him.

Reno was not anticipating an attack because he thought she would not be able to move fast and well with her clothes and her heels. But he realized that he had underestimated her because she has been able to hit him five times already despite his dodging.

"If I know, you killed Rufus!" she snapped at him. "I did not! He died naturally of some sickness, whatsoever that was! Because he's a spoiled over-protected rich brat that's why his immune system cannot take it! Hahahahaha!" He mocked rather joyfully.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she yelled angrily before reaching the borderline of her limit break.

"Damn. Dolphin Blow!" Reno thought. He got his weapon (which looks like an electrical rod) and prepared to meet her attack with it in defense. "So you just pretended to have died… where is Elena?" he demanded.

She ignored the question and just attacked him.

            Rufus was just seated on the front porch with Cloud when Tiffany finally got out of the house. "Rufford," he began.

Rufus turned to her. "Yes, ma'am?" he asked.

"I think I know where she went." She told him.

Rufus's face lit up a little. "Oh? Where?"

"Nibelheim. It's where my father is buried. Maybe she wants to go there." She told him before going to the limo, but she realized that the tire is still flat. "Bloody hell! I thought we had a spare tire?!" she demanded from the driver rather angrily.

Cloud nudged Rufus, "She sure acts like you," he told him.

Rufus just flipped his hair with a proud smile on his face. "But with the graces of her mother." He answered as he got up and dusted his pants. Tiffany was marching to him with a frustrated look on her face. "Have a chopper sent here this instant. We're going to Nibelheim. I have to see her." She told him.

"Yes, ma'am." He told her before grabbing his mobile phone from his pocket and started dialing some numbers.

Tiffany waited rather impatiently, crossing her arms and tapping her right foot on the ground. She looked very worried and her heart was racing so fast, she could not even breathe properly.

"I think you should go inside for a moment while we are waiting for the helicopter to arrive." Cloud advised as he led her back inside the house again.

Aerith was in the kitchen with Elena, helping her bake some cookies. "Cloud?" she called out, wanting to make sure.

"Could you bring in here a glass of water? Miss ShinRa needs one." He called back as he let her sit down on the couch. "Now, calm down for a while. You need to reserve your energy for later." He told her.

She just took a deep breath, held it for ten seconds and then exhaled slowly. She leaned back on the couch. "I'm worried about my mother… what if Reno follows her and…" she trailed off when the phone began to ring.

Cloud instantly picked it up, "Yes?"

"Dad?" It was Cliff's voice.

Cloud frowned. His son sounded worried. "Yes, son?" he asked.

"Dad, Mrs. ShinRa is here in Nibelheim… and while we were on the train, that Reno guy was there too. He's got blank checks but I got them all here. Shall I have them delivered to Uncle Rufus?" Cliff asked.

"Blank checks? Reno?! W…wait a sec, where are you?" Cloud demanded as he got up.

"I'm here in Nibelheim at our old home where Uncle Vincent and Uncle Barret live. Mrs. ShinRa and I went over to the cemetery but when the caretaker told her that Uncle Rufus's body is missing, she freaked out and ran off. I couldn't catch her coz she's so darn fast, so I just went here. Uncle Barret and Uncle Vincent already went out to look for her and I can't leave because they asked me to guard the house." Cliff explained rather frantically.

Cloud scratched his head. "So Tifa has seen Reno already?" he asked.

"Yeah and I think she wants to kill him!" Cliff said.

At the mention of the name "Reno", Tiffany instantly looked at Cloud. "Who's that?" she asked.

Cloud held at hand at her, telling her to wait. Cliff proceeded, "Dad, if Reno finds out that she's alive, he might kill her for real!"

Cloud bit her lip for a moment of silence before telling him, "Hang on in there. Tiffany is heading for Nibelheim to look for her." And then hung up.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Tiffany asked in confusion and worry.

"Reno is after your mother." Cloud told her.

"What?!" she demanded.

Aerith walked in and stared curiously at them. "What is going on in here?" she asked as she handed the glass of water to Tiffany. Tiffany took it and took a few sips before putting it down on the coffee table.

"Long story… but…" Cloud turned to face Tiffany, "If you will give me the permission, I could go with you. Reno is a dangerous person and it is only now that you have realized all the bad things he has done to your family. Your mother and father had been wanting to protect you from that bad guy and since I am their friend, I would like to help you." He told her reassuringly.

She just swallowed hard as she nodded while listening to the faint sound of the chopper landing on the helipad a few blocks away from them. "Let's go." She said.

Aerith bit her lip before grabbing Cloud's hand. "Wait. Let me come with you too." she said.

Cloud turned to Tiffany, but she just nodded. "Yes, yes. She may come with us. Let's go." She said before leading the way outside.

            Tifa just kept on dodging Reno's attacks, although she was already having a hard time. "You are so stubborn, you know that?!" he demanded.

She did not answer; she just decided to fight back more. She gave him a strong blow on the face, sending him flying to the nearest wall.

She thought she was going to collapse to the ground because of fatigue, but she still managed to keep her balance intact. She was already panting hard and could not breathe well. She just eyed Reno with a disgusted look on her face while he was struggling to stand up… but she did not want to give him a chance, so she marched up to him with angry fists. "I'm going to murder him…" she was thinking angrily as she prepared to punch him again, making sure that his head would hit the brick wall hard enough to shatter his skull.

Reno just sneered at her, his back aching too much from the way he hit the hard wall. He instantly grabbed his gun from the secret pocket of his blazer. "Forgot I had these. A Turk must never leave home without this." He muttered victoriously to himself before aiming the weapon stealthily at her.

But she was not afraid of it. She still proceeded, even if she knows that it could kill her.

And he fired.

She instantly dodged the first bullet; …and the second, and the third… but when he fired consecutively again, she got hit on the right shoulder. She cringed in pain but she still managed to come near him. She used her left fist to punch his head, causing him to fall sideways to the ground with her.

She still struggled to fight him, her blood spilling onto his face.

Impatient, he clenched his other fist and gave her a blow on her stomach. He pushed her away from him, causing her to fall to the hard ground. He instantly got up, watching her struggle as he stepped slightly on her neck. "I could just kill you right now… but I'm wondering how you managed to still live such an extravagant life despite you being away from ShinRa. Obviously you have your own moolah, but where are you keeping it? I need to know… because you stole my blank checks. So maybe I could get your money instead of looking for them." He told her.

She just eyed him angrily. "What happened to you?" she asked softly. She could feel herself getting weaker by the moment.

He just sneered at her before he removed his foot from her neck and just stomped on her stomach, causing her to vomit some blood. She struggled for some time, not saying anything. Her thoughts lingered some place else, but she could not determine where. All she could see was red and white…

"ShinRa…" she mouthed softly.

Her husband's words whirled around her thoughts. "_Old man tried to control the world with money…"_

She narrowed her eyes before finally closing them. And as she slowly lost her consciousness, the words were lingering around her thoughts: "_But I do things differently: I control the world with fear…"_

_I control the world with fear._

_I control the world with fear._

_I control the world with fear._

_I control the world with fear._

_I control the world with fear…_

Fear.

"Fear… is… power…" she whispered hoarsely.

Reno watched heartlessly as her breathing slowed down. Her pale face was splattered with her own blood and her clothes torn and tattered. Her white gloves were dirty and also had bloodstains on them.

Carefully, he lifted her up and carried her away…

========================================


	13. chapter 13

ShinRa

By: GQ and Zhakeena

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Chapter Thirteen: The Man Behind

"Where is the President? Doesn't she know that we have a meeting scheduled at this hour? She's already 15 minutes late!" Scarlet remarked with an annoyed look at her face as she pounded an angry fist on the conference room table.

"And your point is?" Heidegger asked rather boredly.

"My point is, she hasn't been late before." She protested.

Reeve remained seated with a serious look on his face as he went over his report, marking important points with his pen. Scarlet turned to him, "Do you know where she is?" she asked.

"I have no idea." Reeve replied.

"If you want to know where she went, ask Reno." Heidegger told her.

"And where is Reno? He's not here, right? I'm sure he's somewhere out again… Kyah! In a bar in Sector 5 or 7…" she muttered before pounding an angry fist on the table, "He is under you, why don't you try punishing him for going against the rules?" she asked. Heidegger was surprised at her, "Well he is a Turk, and a very good one! He's just out there patrolling the place." He said.

Reeve looked at them. "Are you going to discuss with President ShinRa about the funds?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

"What funds?" Heidegger asked.

"Stupid! Stop acting as if you're blind or deaf and you don't know anything about ShinRa's funds?!" Scarlet demanded impatiently.

Heidegger just frowned at her as she got up and placed her hands on her hips, "It's very obvious that we're going bankrupt already." She announced.

"Bankrupt?" he asked in disbelief.

"Look at this," Reeve handed him his report on Urban Development projects. "That's just part of it. President ShinRa gave me enough funds for railroad projects and improvisation of roads in the lower sectors… but they just disappeared!" he pointed out in disbelief.

Heidegger and Scarlet studied the report with looks of awe on their faces. "Kyah! That's what's happening to my Weapons Department too! I'm supposed to be finished with five weapons for mass destruction already, but up to now I still haven't finished a single one of those!" the latter said. "Gyah! And lower-ranking Soldiers are complaining about getting the lowest pay!" the former pointed out.

"Oh I know what you mean… and I'm also getting not enough pay for my work!" she stated flatly.

"That's what we called this meeting for, right? We'll discuss with President ShinRa if she is aware of what's happening in our Company." Reeve told them.

Scarlet gasped, making them wonder. She stared at the report that Reeve had handed to her, "What if… what if one of us here is the culprit?" They all fell silent as she and Reeve eyed Heidegger suspiciously.

"Gyah! Don't look at me! Why would I even steal money from the President because I'm so afraid of her! Besides, I'm loyal to her grandfather and to her dad no matter what happens! I may be too old right now, but I've always treated her like my own daughter because whenever Reno is not around to take care of her, she always goes to me! I pity the poor child when she's all alone. She…" Heidegger lowered his gaze to the floor with a solemn smile on his face, "…she got her mother's eyes… and I feel somewhat guilty for hating Miss Lockheart way back. Looking back from when we used to hate her, I feel so guilty about it… and it's only now that I realized how well she had meant for us here in ShinRa… and that everything improved when she came into President Rufus's life… and then he died…" he stopped as he felt himself nearing tears. "Gyah! What am I saying! I'm getting too sentimental here! Gyahahah!" he laughed weakly as he wiped his tears away, preventing them from falling.

Scarlet sniffed too. "Kyahahah… don't be ridiculous, Heidegger… sniff… Kyah…" she sat down and laughed shamefully. "To be honest with you men… I'm blaming Reno for everything…" she said through clenched teeth and with a bitter smile on her face. "He's been acting too… edgy… and he seems to distance himself from the rest of us… he even killed his own best friend! What is wrong with that asshole? Is he on drugs or something?" she asked in annoyance.

"I've noticed it too… he behaves… rather differently compared to way back before." Reeve pointed out.

Heidegger slowly looked up at him upon hearing that. "Oh my dear stars…" he began. "What's wrong?" Reeve asked.

Heidegger took a deep breath before shaking his head in refusal to answer, "N…never mind… it could be another thing…" he muttered.

Reeve and Scarlet just stared at him curiously before the latter reacted, "Kyah! Don't tell me you know something about it?!"

"But I did not…" Heidegger trailed off. He almost said it.

Scarlet got up and went to him, collaring him angrily, "You did not what? Come on! Say it! Do you have anything to do with any of the shit going on around here in ShinRa?!" she snarled. Reeve rushed over to her and pulled her away from Heidegger, "Hey, stop it. Enough, Scarlet," he said. Scarlet straightened herself up as she squirmed away from his grasp. "Kyah! If I ever find out that you were the one who plotted President Rufus's death and Miss Lockheart's demise, I'm going to…" she began, but Heidegger interrupted her, "Since when did you start caring for Miss Lockheart while we all know how much you hated her…"

"Alright, alright! Stop it now, you two!" Reeve snapped impatiently. He took a deep breath before proceeding, "We have to talk about this as calmly as possible… and as private as possible. Just the three of us, alright? I know how loyal the two of you are to the ShinRas, and so am I. So let's help solve this problem by discussing this and being honest with one another, okay?" he turned to Heidegger with a probing look on his face, "Now, Heidegger, tell us what you know. Who knows, it could be the key for our success again!" he urged.

Heidegger scanned the looks on his companions' faces. Scarlet was still eyeing him angrily but Reeve seems to be calm about it. He swallowed hard. He felt so nervous as he began, "S…since Professor Hojo is dead… I guess… no one will threat me anymore…"

Reeve and Scarlet stared unbelievably at him. "Hojo?" the latter asked.

Heidegger nodded before he got up, "…he was performing experiments before regarding brainwashing… and he wanted to test it on a human subject. We both discussed this over a bottle of vodka several years ago…. And I jokingly told him, 'Try using one of my Turks… like Reno, perhaps?' and I guess he took it seriously…"

"Brainwashing?" Reeve asked.

"Not the type where you forget things. It works like this: once the formula is injected into your system or you drink it, it will be present in your bloodstream for several years unimaginable! It will modify things in your consciousness and sub-consciousness, making you… act differently compared to how you've always acted. The effects are not immediate and will only take place several years after it has been injected into your system. I thought the experiment was a flop because it was already years and I still notice a lot of the same stuff on Reno… until one time he just stopped drinking too much! And it was the time when President Rufus found the contract signed by his father and Tifa's... was it grandfather or father; I'm not sure… oh never mind… Oh, that's all I know!!!" Heidegger explained with an uneasy look on his face.

Scarlet wanted to faint, but she just pulled herself together as she sat down. "Kyah!!! And you've kept this for so long?! How could you… how could you do this?!" she screeched in panic.

"GYAH! Stop blaming me! I was afraid of Hojo! He threatened that if I told anybody else, he'd kill me!" Heidegger reasoned.

"Kyah! He's defenseless against your fat belly!" Scarlet snapped.

"Gyah!"

"Kyah!"

"Gyah!"

"Kyah!!!" Scarlet screamed.

"Okay, enough already!" Reeve stomped his foot impatiently on the floor. When the two stared unbelievably at him, he smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "But anyway, can't we discuss this more calmly?" he asked.

"What's there to be calm about this damn situation, you stupid Urban Development Dork?!" Scarlet demanded impatiently.

"Gyah! Yeah! We're in a state of calamity! Rufus is dead; his daughter's here with her mother… and honestly speaking, I don't think the girl really has what it takes to lead us!" he pointed out.

Reeve sat down beside Scarlet with a frown on his face, "Well… no. As long as Reno is the one guiding her, she won't be as good as any ShinRas before her, unfortunately…"

The woman in red puffed her cheeks. "Well, what do any of you intend to do about it?"

The other two frowned. "Gyah… why, you have a plan?"

Scarlet thought for a while before finally announcing, "We'll look for Miss Lockheart."

Reeve raised his hand at her, "Oh, correction. _Mrs. ShinRa_." He pointed out.

"Idiot. She's obviously in hiding. She wouldn't use that name," Scarlet snapped back. "So, we look for a Tifa Lockheart."

"Why don't we just get the list of all the Tifas in Midgar from the Statistics Office?" Heidegger suggested.

"That's a good idea… but we should move carefully and not let Reno know about this." Reeve told him with a pleased smile on his face.

"And what are we going to do once we locate the First Lady?" Heidegger asked.

"First of all, the two of you must apologize for being a bunch of dweebs. Second, we apologize for the misfortune that had happened to her." Reeve said with a serious look on his face.

Heidegger and Scarlet 'gyahed' and 'kyahed' at the mention of them being dweebs, but they grudgingly agreed to the parts of Reeve's plan. "Then what?"

"Then," Reeve continued, "we tell her everything that had happened, is happening and will be happening in ShinRa. In time, we'll figure out how to get Reno out of here."

"That's not going to be easy," Heidegger told him.

"Why not?" Scarlet asked.

Heidegger bowed down his head while shaking in dismay, rubbing his forehead with his hands. "Gyah… I'm always away going around checking the security of all our territories that I have no time warding him off on what's right or wrong." he sighed before looking up at them again, "I sort of told him that he can take charge of things here regarding the Peace Keepings Division… and I guess the SOLDIERs liked him… so…"

"Kyah… so you're saying that SOLDIER is on his side?" Scarlet asked.

Heidegger shrugged. "Not sure…" he said softly.

Scarlet shook her head. "This is so… bad!!!" she got up and walked out of the conference room, leaving Reeve and Heidegger there with troubled looks on their faces.

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"Careful, ma'am," Rufus said as he offered his hand to Tiffany, helping her go down the chopper a few moments after it landed on a helipad in the ShinRa Mansion.

"What is this place full of weeds?" she asked curiously.

"This is the ShinRa Mansion, ma'am… and the only helipad in Nibelheim is in this place. Don't you know?" Rufus asked.

Tiffany looked up at the tall edifice before shrugging. "Never really took a good look at this big place. Reno said it's just a big piece of trash to be left alone for the decomposers." She replied as she followed Cloud and Aerith towards the gate so that they could get out of the Mansion's territory. "Well, the gate is locked." Cloud declared.

Tiffany frowned slightly. "Oh that's easy," she muttered before pulling out her shotgun and shooting at the lock, almost succeeding to blow the gate off its hinges. She went ahead and almost left Cloud, Aerith and Rufus, who were still quite shocked.

"Whoa. She might be better than you, Ruffy," Aerith whispered to him.

"Please hurry up. I'm getting quite impatient with you people whispering to each other like that," Tiffany said. She was already well into the town and was tapping her foot.

The three adults quickened their pace and went after her, "Ma'am," Rufus began.

"Yes?" she asked mindlessly as she took a glance around her surroundings. The people on the streets began to whisper about her and stare curiously at her, wondering what on earth is she doing in Nibelheim at an unannounced instant such as that. "I think it's best for you to just stay in one place while Cloud, Aerith and I will just look around Nibelheim for you," he told her.

"And where will I stay here?" Tiffany asked.

"You can stay at our old house here." Cloud presented.

Tiffany thought for a while before protesting, "But I want to find my mother myself…" she began, but Rufus held up his hand to her—like he forgot that he is disguised as a Turk. Cloud and Aerith noticed this gesture, realizing that he had just brought out the father in him, but they just kept quiet.

"Miss Tiffany, I don't want anything bad happening to you… and I'm sure your mother would wish the same if she was here. So please, let us just keep you in one place and we'll do the searching for you." Rufus explained.

"Rufford is right, President ShinRa. Your mom and dad could only wish for your safety if they were here." Cloud pointed out.

Aerith approached her and offered a friendly hand to her. "Let's go, Miss Tiffany. I'll take you to our old house." She said. Tiffany looked at Rufus, as if searching for answers in his eyes, but he just stared blankly at her. She bowed down her head and took Aerith's hand with a sad smile on her face. "Thank you, Mrs. Strife," she said.

"Oh you can call me Auntie Aerith… and that's Uncle Cloud over there." Aerith said with a sweet smile on her face while giggling.

Tiffany chuckled lightly. "Alright then…" she said as she followed Aerith's lead, leaving Cloud and Rufus there.

"Are we going to wait for you here?" Cloud called out to his wife. "No, you go on ahead. I can find my way." She answered.

With that, Cloud and Rufus turned away and stared strangely at the town. Everyone was still gossiping.

"So what now?" Cloud muttered while eyeing the crowd.

"We ask the folks around here." Rufus muttered back before approaching one of the crowds. "Pardon me, madams," he began with a stiff tone.

The middle-aged women all stopped talking at once and turned to look at him with some sort of admiration. Cloud just shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe this guy didn't end up like his father…" he thought silently.

"Yes, sir?" one of the ladies asked with a rather flirty look on her face.

Rufus just acted casually, "Have you noticed anything unusual here lately?" he asked.

"Like… having a handsome man like you around?" the lady asked. The others giggled. Then one of them answered, "And the fact that the President is here."

"Aside from those?" Cloud asked, stepping forward.

The ladies eyed him for a while before smiling at him, "Nothing, really." They replied simply.

"But I think there was some commotion by the well earlier today. It's this very poised woman fighting with this drunk. Since we didn't want any trouble, we just stayed away and pretended not to have seen anything." One of the ladies told them.

Rufus and Cloud's eyes widened in surprise. "A very poised woman fighting with a drunk?" the latter asked. "Tell me how this woman looks like?" the former instructed.

"What do you mean?" one of the ladies asked, raising an eyebrow at him, like feeling jealous or something.

"Are you dames a bunch of airheads or what? It's a simple question! How does she look like?!" Rufus demanded impatiently. Cloud held him back, "Hey, calm down," he warned before smiling apologetically at the alarmed ladies. "Does she have long hair…and what is she wearing?" he asked.

"She has long hair, definitely… and she was wearing a hat. She's wearing white…"

"It was black!" one of the ladies said.

"Well I think it's white!" the other one argued.

"What-evah." Rufus snapped. "And the drunk?" he asked.

"A redhead." The ladies all answered in unison.

Rufus felt his knees getting weak. "Bloody hell…" he thought silently before he started to walk away. Cloud went after him, "Rufus!" he called out.

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Tiffany and Aerith finally arrived at the house where Cliff was staying. Aerith opened the door and took a peek inside. "Surprisingly, the door isn't locked," she muttered.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Tiffany asked curiously.

"Who's there?" Cliff called out from the kitchen. Aerith's face lit up, "Cliff!" she called out.

Cliff arrived from the kitchen, looking surprised at the fact that his mother is there. "Mom!" he greeted as he ran to her, but stopped in his tracks when he realized that the President is standing behind his mother. "Oh… your Excellency." He greeted as he bowed down with an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Tiffany." She corrected promptly.

He took a deep breath, gathering enough guts to say her name. "T…Tiffany… right. Heheh." He repeated with a sheepish grin. Aerith just rolled her eyes with a look of disbelief on her face. "Please come in, Tiffany," she said as she stood aside, letting her enter the house. "Make yourself comfortable." She told her.

Tiffany stepped inside and Aerith shut the door.

"Get her something to drink. She'll be staying here until your father and… Rufford finds your Auntie Tifa." Aerith instructed her son. She almost said _Rufus_. Cliff rushed back to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Tiffany sat down on one of the couches and looked around at her current surroundings. "I wish my dad's alive…" she said softly.

Aerith blinked and sat down beside her. "Why do you say so?" she asked.

"Well… I'm about to meet my mother… I hope…" Tiffany sighed heavily before smiling sadly at Aerith. Suddenly she isn't afraid to express what she really feels deep inside. "I grew up without my parents and looking at you and Cliff, I somewhat envy him for having parents such as you and Uncle Cloud. Growing up without parents made me feel as if I'm an orphan and strangers are taking care of me. I feel so incomplete. And now that I know where my mother is and maybe I'll be reunited with her in a moment, but I still feel like life is incomplete because I don't have a father…" she explained.

Aerith smiled softly at her and embraced her gently. "Poor child…" she thought to herself before saying, "Life is full of surprises. Who knows, your father could just be around here somewhere doing everything he can to protect you… but you'll just have to wait for the right moment to see her again."

Tiffany didn't exactly know what that meant so she just nodded. Cliff returned from the kitchen with a glass of water and handed it to Tiffany once she withdrew from Aerith. "Thank you," she said softly as she took the glass and began to drink.

Aerith got up. "Well, I'll be leaving you two for a while to make sure that your father and Rufford are still in the right track of finding Tifa." She told her son before proceeding to the door. "You make sure she's okay, alright?" she asked before stepping out of the house.

Tiffany and Cliff just sat still on the couch, staring at the floor and not knowing what to do. The latter turned to her and smiled kindly. "H…hi." He greeted shyly. She somewhat felt disturbed because of the way he was looking at her. She just smiled rather uncomfortably at him. "H…hi." She greeted back.

Cliff felt like a dork. He wanted to smack himself. "Damn… say something nice…" he was scolding himself silently. Tiffany put the glass down on the coffee table before looking at him again. "So… nice day, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah." He told her.

Silence.

"Your face is red." She pointed out.

He felt his face getting warmer. "Oh… because it's a humid day… heheh." He said rather uncomfortably.

She raised an eyebrow and she smiled slyly. "Oh, really? I don't feel that air is humid. I'm wearing a three-layered suit but I don't feel so warm." She said with a probing tone.

Silence.

"I think I'll just go see what's in the kitchen. Would you like something to eat? I can cook for you if you want to," he told her as he instantly got up and went over to the kitchen.

She watched him quietly as he walked away from her. She just smiled softly. "Well… he seems nice…" she thought to herself.

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Reno slowly opened his eyes and realized that he had fallen asleep on some dusty floor. "Oh shit!" he cussed in disgust before sneezing continuously for five times. He rubbed his nose as he remained seated on the floor and pulled out a hanky from his pocket. He blew his nose and then sneezed again. "Gah…" he muttered.

Silence.

He looked around at the cluttered room where he was. "Where am I?" he thought to himself… and he stopped looking around when his eyes landed on a woman lying on the same floor all tied up and bloody. Her white clothes looked soiled and her hair was messy. She was also drenched in sweat. "What the--?!" he reacted in shock as he scampered away from the unconscious woman. He began to feel nervous as he recognized her face. "T…Tifa?!" he slowly crawled back to where she is, staring in horror at her. He checked if she was still breathing. He sighed in relief to find out that she's alive. Gently, he began to shake her in an attempt to wake her up, "Hey, Miss Lockheart!" he began.

But she wouldn't open her eyes or even move further than when he was shaking her to wake her up. "What happened to her?" he thought silently to himself. Then, he froze when he felt someone grab his shoulder from behind. "You're making a big mistake. She is Mrs. ShinRa now. Oh well, I guess my potion works too well that you couldn't even remember…"

Reno instantly turned around, shoving off the hand in the process. He backed off, staring in awe at Professor Hojo. "You!!! I thought you're dead?!" he demanded in shock.

Hojo just smirked at him. Reno noticed that he hasn't changed so much… except that he aged. He now had white streaks on his hair and his face had a lot of wrinkles… and his left arm was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a gun-arm similar to Barret's, but the color was golden like Vincent's claw. "Hahahahaha! Well, a mad scientist like me should always be prepared when such sudden deaths would occur… even if Cloud Strife was able to defeat me back then, well, now look who's back!" Hojo told him with a proud look on his face.

Reno made a face. "I don't get it. So you're a zombie now?" he asked casually.

"Shut up. You're ignorant of science anyway so it's no use explaining to you now what I did to myself from way back." Hojo sneered.

"Hey, I graduated from ShinRa Military School with flying colors and even if I don't look so decent right now, I'm still smart!" Reno snapped impatiently, not liking the way Hojo would degrade him.

"But you're not a science major, are you?" Hojo sneered.

"What-ever! What are you doing back here anyway?" Reno argued in annoyance, feeling more confused. But he was guessing that Hojo must have experimented with himself too and he must've come up with a formula for reviving people and then he also used it on himself so that he wouldn't die easily. Hojo just smiled slyly at him before turning to Tifa who was still unconscious on the floor. "You did a very good job, Reno. Thank you for bringing the First Lady to me." He told him. Reno's eyes widened. "What?" he asked in shock.

"Oh, you might be asking what happened to her? Well, you were the one who knocked her out. You're really one of the best Turks ShinRa has ever had… that's why you're the one that I decided to use for my plans…" Hojo began, but he trailed off when Reno instantly got onto his feet and charged at him, collaring him angrily. "What have you made me do!? What did you do to me!!! You turned me into a maniac!!!" Reno snarled angrily.

Hojo just laughed at him. "Well you are a maniac, are you not?" he asked Reno attempted to punch him but he instantly got hold of his hand and twisted his wrist. Reno cried out in pain. "Argh!!! Let go of me, damn you!!!" he cried out.

Hojo pushed him away from himself, watching in pleasure as he landed on the hard ground. He began to explain, "It was easy to make you drink the potion that I've created so that you would follow my orders. All I had to do was to ask General Heidegger for a Turk to participate in my experiment. I thought that it would be a flop but… here you are now! And Miss Lockheart too! Hahahahaha!" He smiled proudly even as Reno glared angrily at him. "It lasted for more than 15 years! I can't believe it! And it only wore off now after you brought the First Lady here! Very good, Reno, very good!" Hojo continued.

Reno turned his gaze to Tifa and looked pitifully at her. "What else… what else did I do while I was… under your control?" he asked Hojo with a regretful look on his face as he clutched his aching wrist gently.

"Let's see… hmm… you've been stealing money from ShinRa and hiding it all here. You don't know I'm using them for my own good… that's why I was able to replace my rotting arm over here. Hahaha! Oh yes, and you even killed your own buddy, Rude! Hahahahaha!" Hojo said mockingly.

Reno's mouth dropped open, not knowing what to do. "R…Rude?! I killed Rude?!" he demanded in disgust.

"Oh yes. Everything went perfectly as I have planned it. I wanted Rufus dead, but he died on his own before I could even make you lay a finger on him by contaminating him with an incurable disease. I wanted Tifa to go away so I made you drive her away… but she attempted to escape with Elena and Rude together with Tiffany, so I had to make you kill her companions…"

"I killed Elena too?!" Reno exclaimed in shock. He felt his heart sinking. He wanted to cry.

"No. She escaped with Tifa. Now I don't know where they are, but who cares? As long as we have such a weak President, I can have all the money I want and I can continue with the JENOVA project too." Hojo told him. Reno felt sick of himself. "How long have I been under your control?" he asked in disgust.

"Ever since before Tifa married Rufus." Hojo said with a sly smile on his face.

Reno felt so disgusted at Hojo. He wanted to kill him, but how? He didn't have any weapons… and Hojo seems more dangerous at present than he was before. "Madder than ever… Yeah… Hojo's a madder scientist than before…" he thought silently to himself before turning back to Tifa. "I've got to get her out of here." He thought.

"Oh yes. There's no use helping her now. You injured her pretty badly and she is losing too much blood. She'll die in a little while… but I still tied her up so that if ever she wakes up and still has the energy to fight back, she won't be able to move. Without her in my way, I can gain control of Tiffany completely and not get blamed for all the bad things happening around!" Hojo told Reno with a playful grin before proceeding to the door to leave the room. "You bastard!!! You're using me for your dirty work! What are people going to say about me?!" Reno shouted in annoyance.

"Since when did you care about people saying things about you? Anyway, I'd better make another potion for you to drink so that you could go back to working for me. Hahahahaha!" with that, Hojo left. He shut the door and even locked it. Reno struggled to stand up and slowly dragged himself going to the door. He tried to open the door but it was locked from outside. "Dammit…" he muttered before walking back to Tifa again. He stared at his wrist again in annoyance. "Damn… here goes…" and he twisted it again back to its original position. He cried out in pain which echoed in the whole room.

"You alright?" he froze when he heard Tifa's voice. He turned to her again and knelt down before her. "Miss Lockheart?" he asked… and corrected himself, "…Mrs. ShinRa?"

She swallowed hard and gazed around the room, but she couldn't sit up. She felt so weak. She wearily looked up at him but before she could say anything else, Reno began to tell her, "I'm so sorry about what happened but… let me explain! I wasn't the one who…"

She just smiled weakly. "I know… I heard everything…" she said softly.

Reno felt relieved. "Oh… good! I thought I'll be having a hard time explaining things to you the way I had a hard time comprehending what Hojo did to me!" he told her as he fell on a sitting position and began to undo the ropes binding her hands and feet. "That bastard Hojo…" Reno muttered. He noticed that Tifa was going to close her eyes again, but he instantly snapped at her, "No, no, no, no, no! No you don't! Don't close your eyes!!!" he cried out in panic. She just gazed wearily at him. "But I'm tired… I want to sleep…" she said weakly.

"No. You're not going to sleep until we get out of here!" he told her before he got up and rushed to the window. He saw that the ShinRa chopper was parked outside. His eyes widened. "Jackpot!" he cheered before running back to Tifa. "ShinRa's here!" he told her.

She didn't answer. She felt so dizzy. He ran back to the window. And checked if he could open it. To his surprise, it opened. "Yeah!" he cheered softly. "Looks like Hojo lacks skills in keeping prisoners the way Turks do. Heheheh…" he thought victoriously to himself before rushing back to her and carefully lifted her up, carrying her out of the room through the window. Luckily the room was located in the first floor. Cautiously, he took her to the chopper and settled her on one of the backseats. "Hang on in there, ma'am. I'm taking you back to ShinRa where you belong so that we could get help." He told her. She just smiled weakly. "Thank you, Reno…" she told him wearily, struggling to keep awake. She felt so numb and so cold.

Reno went over to the pilot's seat and started the engine.

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Just as Cloud, Rufus and Aerith were about to reach the ShinRa Mansion to inspect, they heard the sound of the chopper and then moments later, saw it rising up into the skies and took off going to the direction where Midgar is located.

"Bloody hell!?" Rufus cried out in annoyance.

Cloud frowned, seeing that it was being piloted by Reno. "Looks like he escaped with our chopper." He muttered.

Rufus instantly ran towards the mansion and got inside. "Rufus, wait!" Aerith called out.

As soon as they got inside the mansion, they instantly searched the first floor. Rufus came to a room that was locked and decided to just blow the door off with his shotgun.

They stepped inside the room and saw that it was dusty and there were a lot of covered furniture. When Rufus turned to the floor, he saw loose ropes with bloodstains… and the floor also had blood on it. His eyes widened as he knelt down and touched the ropes and the blood. "Tifa…" he said softly.

"Relax, Rufus… we'll go back to Midgar immediately." Cloud told him reassuringly.

"What is Reno going to do with Tifa?!" Rufus demanded in anger as he got up frantically. "Calm down, Rufus, there's no use panicking. Let's just get back to Midgar as soon as possible. We'll just take the train; besides, you've had a railroad constructed from Midgar to Nibelheim when you were still the President, right? It's a one-way trip from here to there." Aerith told him.

Rufus took a deep breath. "Alright… come on, let's get out of this hell hole…" he muttered as he led the way.

* * *

-to be continued...

GQ's note: The 14th chapter is coming up... soon... I swear... XD


	14. chapter 14

ShinRa

By General Quistis & Zhakeena

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Chapter Fourteen: Rufus Returns to ShinRa

Tiffany sighed heavily as she leaned back on the sofa, crossing her arms across her chest. "What time do you think are they returning here?" she asked uneasily. It was already 6:30 in the evening but they were still there in the living room doing nothing. She was beginning to feel so uncomfortable and worried.

"Well… I'd usually expect them to be back here by this time already… but…" Cliff began, but he stopped when the door burst open and there was Vincent Valentine with Barret Wallace, Cid Highwind, Marlene and Yuffie. They got inside the house, minding their own business, not even noticing that there were people in the living room area. Vincent went straight upstairs to his room while Cid rushed to the bathroom on the first floor. Marlene began to help Yuffie to prepare dinner and Barret went over to the living room to watch TV. He greeted Cliff, "Hey, you still here? I thought you left with your mom and dad already! Oh well, maybe they're coming back to get you later… but if they don't, you can sleep over here." He told him as he sat down and switched on the TV and began to watch the evening news.

Cliff and Tiffany exchanged confused looks on their faces. He turned back to Barret. "What do you mean my mom and dad left?" he asked.

"They went back to Midgar already via train. They said that…" Barret trailed off when he noticed a blonde girl staring strangely at him. "Oh… is she your girlfriend?" he asked.

Tiffany blushed slightly as her mouth dropped open in shock. "I beg your pardon?!" she exclaimed.

"Whoa. She sounds like your Uncle Rufus too. Must be a rich girl…" Barret trailed off when he realized who she was. "HOLY SHIT!!!" he got up in shock, staring unbelievably at her.

"Why? What's going on?" Cid asked as he stepped out of the bathroom. Yuffie and Marlene checked out what was going on and they froze when they saw Tiffany ShinRa just seated on the couch and looking strangely at them.

"What is she doing here?" Yuffie asked in awe.

"Uh…" Tiffany began. Cliff got up. "Let me explain first…" he began, but Yuffie approached Tiffany with a look of awe on her face. "You're Tifa's daughter?! OH MY GAWD!!!" she said happily.

Tiffany felt ashamed all of a sudden. Who are these people?

Cliff smiled. "Y…yes, Auntie Yuffie. She's Auntie Tifa and Uncle Rufus's daughter…" he began.

Tiffany smiled shyly at all of them. "H…hello… I'm… Tiffany…" she began.

"But you're the President!" Cid pointed out. "Duh!" Barret snapped at him with a sarcastic look on his face.

"I thought they're all reunited already? How come Tifa and Rufus aren't here?" Marlene asked curiously.

Silence.

"Rufus?" Tiffany asked.

"Damn, she's not yet supposed to know that her $&!$! father is alive!!!" Cid cried out.

Tiffany's eyes widened. "What?!" she asked in shock.

"You just had to blab, huh?" Barret muttered miserably. "If Rufus starts asking questions, you'll do the explanation on why his plans were busted…" he told Cid.

"What? My father? Plans?" Tiffany felt her heart racing. She approached Barret and held his left hand, "Please! Tell me that it's true! Tell me that my father is alive!" she pleaded helplessly. Somehow, she felt safe around these people… like she belong to them and that she is easily welcomed in their family.

"Well… for starters… yes, your dad is alive. But… sit down foo'. We'll tell you everything." Barret instructed gently.

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When Reno arrived in ShinRa again with the wounded Tifa, everyone was surprised to see them… and he's actually helping her. "Hey! I need help!" he told them.

The SOLDIERs just stared unbelievably at him. Heidegger was eyeing him accusingly. Reno could easily read what's in their heads through the looks in their eyes, it's as if they're telling him, "So finally you've managed to find that woman and now you've successfully killed her!"

But she was still alive.

"Mrs. ShinRa!" Reeve said in surprise as he and Scarlet approached them. He froze when he saw Tifa's current condition. Tifa just gazed up at them with a weary look on her face. "Please… listen to Reno… he'll explain everything…" she said shakily. She was really very pale now.

"Call a doctor! Hurry!" Reno instructed.

The SOLDIERs took off. Reeve and Heidegger helped Reno with Tifa and carried her to the masters' bedroom that was once Rufus's room. Scarlet went ahead of them to open the door and the lights for them. The men settled Tifa onto the bed.

Dark Nation entered the room and went over to Tifa, meowing excitedly, "Meowrrr!!!" and she began to purr, but when she saw Tifa's current condition, she began to sulk.

When the doctor arrived, Reno began to explain to Reeve, Scarlet and Heidegger what happened to him and to Tifa. The three were shocked to find out what happened, especially Heidegger. "So the experiment wasn't a flop…" he thought to himself.

"So Hojo is behind all of this?!" Reeve asked in disbelief.

"Yes, but please don't tell anybody else that I've returned here and that Mrs. ShinRa is with me! If that Mad Scientist finds out about it, he might go berserk and do something unimaginable… like harm her further… or worse, do something bad to Tiffany!" Reno said in panic.

"But where is she?" Scarlet asked.

"Who?" Reno asked.

"The President! Tiffany!" she pointed out.

Silence.

"I… can't remember. Was I with her?" he asked.

Silence.

"Oh no… she's with Rufford…" Heidegger muttered.

"They were… at my house in Sector 7… but I don't know where they are right now because I went to Nibelheim to visit Rufus's grave, but when I got there, the gravedigger said that it's empty! It's like someone just stole his body," Tifa said, still lingering. She doesn't want to close her eyes yet because she felt like if she did, she would die.

The doctor was beginning to treat her wounds. "Gee… you're a very strong woman, I could see," she told Tifa as she began to remove the bullet from the wound.

"Ow…" Tifa cringed in pain. There was no anesthesia.

"The grave is empty?!" Heidegger exclaimed.

"Kyah! We better have it investigated!" Scarlet told them, but before anybody else could say anything else about the situation, someone just barged inside the room. "TIFA!!!"

Silence.

Cloud and Aerith finally caught up with Rufus who went ahead of them. "Rufus, calm down!" the latter told him, but she froze when she realized that there were other people there.

…and Reno was also there.

Rufus, unable to control his temper and his emotions, rushed to Reno with an angry look on his face. "You bastard! What have you done to my wife and to my daughter!!!???" he snarled angrily, strangling him.

Tifa was surprised that she instantly sat up unbelievably. The others stared in awe at Rufus and Reno.

"Rufford…" Heidegger began, but he froze upon remembering what he had heard from Aerith and what _Rufford_ had said. A while ago. Wife and daughter…

"Ack!!! Please let me go!!! Ack… he…lp!!!" Reno struggled to say.

"Rufford, calm down!!!" Reeve and Scarlet tried to pull Rufus away from Reno but he wouldn't let go. He was very angry.

Tifa began to cry, "Rufus, no! Reno didn't do anything! It was Hojo who did all those bad things to our family!" she pointed out with a helpless look on her face before she finally collapsed back onto the bed, unconscious. Although she was excited to find out that her husband is alive, she still could not keep herself awake because her body was beginning to feel weaker by the moment.

Rufus turned back to Tifa. Reno felt him loosen his grip and that's when he pushed him away and struggled to breath. Rufus left Reno and went over to Tifa. "Tifa?" he asked softly.

The Doctor shook her head in disbelief. "Oh dear… she lost consciousness… could anyone please ask for an oxygen tank? She needs it right now. I'm gonna have to give her an I.V. too." she told them.

Rufus felt so weak all of a sudden, "Is she going to be alright? Please tell me she's going to be alright…" he said weakly as he knelt down before the bed and touched his wife's bloody hands. "She is going to be okay if we hurry things up a little, Mister. Tell me, how are you related to her anyway? … and she is your wife?" the doctor asked unbelievably as Reeve and Scarlet rushed out of the room to order for an oxygen tank plus other medical equipment from the laboratory.

Rufus took a deep breath before turning to Cloud and Aerith. The latter just smiled kindly at him as if telling him, "Just tell them the truth. Everything will be alright. We're all in your side."

Rufus turned back to the Doctor and he got up, flipping his hair mindlessly. "I am Rufus ShinRa… and this woman is my wife."

Heidegger was shocked to hear what he had just said. "But… Rufus is…"

"Dead? No. I'm not dead. I just… faked my death and then investigated the happenings from afar so that I would know who's causing all the trouble within this company." Rufus explained, keeping his gaze on Tifa.

Heidegger was stunned. "But… why?! I mean, you could've told me or…" he stammered.

"I wouldn't know if it was you who were causing the trouble. If I had known that you were innocent after all, I could've informed you." Rufus pointed out before moving away from Tifa and took a seat on the couch by the window. Dark Nation walked over to him and rubbed her head against his leg. He mindlessly reached out to her and stroked her thick black fur gently. Reno finally regained composure and sighed heavily. "I can explain everything that Hojo had said to me, President Rufus." He offered with an apologetic look on his face. "If… just to make up to all the… bad things that I've done in behalf of that bastard scientist…" he said softly.

Rufus just turned to him and nodded his head with a troubled look on his face. Reno began to explain just when Cloud and Aerith remembered about Tiffany.

"Oh no..." Aerith said softly.

"What's the matter, Aerith?" Rufus asked, turning to her. She was quiet for a while with a hesitant look on her face. She was hesitant to tell him because he was already stressed out and she would not want to add up to his concerns and problems; however, she still knew that it would matter to him. Cloud did the talking for her, "Tiffany is…"

Rufus did not let him finish. He instantly remembered. "Bloody hell?!" he cried out in surprise.

"Wh…why? Where is she?" Heidegger asked, worrying also.

"We left her in Nibelheim because we were looking for Reno and Tifa. But don't worry too much because she's in good hands." Cloud pointed out.

"What? But Hojo is in Nibelheim! We can't let him near the girl!" Reno told him in disbelief.

"What do you mean she's in good hands? Where is she specifically located?" Heidegger asked.

"I left her with my son, Cliff. And I'm sure at this hour Vincent, Barret, Cid and Yuffie are back home in the same house where I left the two." Aerith said in assurance.

Heidegger and Reno were still restless. They turned to Rufus, "Shall we send some SOLDIERs to patrol around the area, sir?" the former asked.

Rufus just shook his head. "I believe in what Vincent and the others could do… especially Cliff. Tiffany is safe there." He explained before he got up and went over to Tifa. He knelt down beside her and stroked her hair. "Besides, we wouldn't want to be obvious to Hojo that Tiffany is there, right?" he asked with a slight smile on his face. "I'm sorry, Tifa, I'll leave you here for a while. I have to go to our daughter and bring her back here…" he thought silently to himself before he got up and faced them again. "I'll go there myself and fetch her. Besides, she and I have a lot to talk about." He told them.

"Are you going to tell her the truth about yourself?" Cloud asked.

Rufus was quiet for a while, eyeing Tifa from the corner of his eye. Perhaps it was enough high time for him to reunite his family and get rid of those who are trying to destroy it…

He smiled calmly and nodded. "Come on, Cloud. Let's go together." He told him before turning to Aerith. She smiled calmly at him. "Don't worry, I'll be with Tifa. I'll be telling Elena to come here too." she said.

Reno's face lit up when he heard the name. "Elena?" he asked in awe.

All eyes turned to him but they were not able to make a comment because they saw Reno crying tears of joy as he got up and rushed to Aerith. "Where is she? Where is Elena? Is she alive?" he asked happily.

"H…hey, calm down! Of course she is alive!" Aerith told him with a weak smile on her face.

Reno let go of her and took a step backward. "Oh no… what if…" he turned back to Rufus. "Isn't she supposed to be… dead?" he asked in shock, referring to Aerith.

Silence.

"Cloud and I have to run… uhm… Aerith, please do the explaining to him." Rufus said with a slight frown on his face before going out of the bedroom with Cloud following after him.

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To be continued…


	15. chapter 15

ShinRa

By GQ and Zhak

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Chapter Fifteen: Meeting Hojo

"It's late."

Tiffany turned to Cliff with a weary look on her face and stared curiously at him as he sat down beside her. She had been sitting in the living room for hours already just watching TV and looking at old photographs of her mother and father from old photo albums. "Why? What time is it?" she asked.

"Fifteen minutes before midnight." He told her. "Aren't you tired?" he asked.

She just laughed light-heartedly. "Fifteen before twelve? It's still early! Well, at least for me, it is…" she said softly before switching off the television and put the remote down on the coffee table. "I am used to staying awake and working late at night and would just go to bed at around 3 in the morning… or sometimes never."

"Isn't that unhealthy?" he asked, making a face.

"Well… I know it is, but I have no choice. I'm the President and I have to do a lot of things for the company and for the Planet." She said with a mediocre stare, like she did not really feel like saying those things… like she was regretful that she was ever the President.

Cliff easily noticed it by looking into her eyes. "Do you like being President?" he asked frankly.

She was silent for a while and just looked away, bowing down her head in contemplation. She suddenly looked disappointed. He felt ashamed. "I'm… sorry, did my question offend you? I mean, I'm not questioning your abilities as the President but…"

She cut him off by saying, "I'd be a big fat liar if I say yes, I like being President."

He blinked. "So you don't like being President?" he asked.

She just swallowed hard and turned to look at him again. "Who likes doing executive stuff at this age of mine? Isn't that abnormal? I should be having fun! I should be studying in a private school in Sector 1 or in Junon, but instead, I was stuck with private tutors ever since I was a toddler and graduated college at the age of 15! Isn't that ridiculous? And my friends… well, if you can call them _friends_… they're a bunch of old people who had been of service to ShinRa ever since before I was born! And I don't like talking to people I do not even know that Reno and the others refer to as clients and business associates and partners because I really have nothing to talk about with them except for business and… more business!" she sighed heavily. "I'm sorry if I'm blabbing… you're surprised, huh?" she asked miserably.

"Poor girl…" he thought to himself silently before smiling kindly at her. "It's okay. You should let it all out… all your frustrations in life." He told her.

She just leaned back on the couch, "I know that my dad was the _perfect_ President for ShinRa… but… I am not my father. I'm different from him but those executives want me to be like him… to act and work like him. And I'm really doing a very mediocre job at it. I'm tired of acting like I love what I'm doing…" she placed her hands on her lap. "Sometimes I really wish that my parents were there to support me, then maybe I could get some inspiration and work harder for them." She said softly.

He looked down to the floor. "It must be hard growing up without parents, huh?" he asked.

She nodded sadly before turning to him again. She forced a cheerful smile, but he still saw in her eyes that she was hurting inside. "Wh…what about you? What are your frustrations in life?" she asked casually.

He was amazed at her sudden change in mood and tone. "Wh…what?" he asked in confusion.

"Aw c'mon! I've told you mine. You should tell me yours, otherwise, it would be unfair!" she told him with a playful grin on her face.

Unknown to them, Vincent and Barret were listening and observing them from upstairs on the second floor. Barret smiled slightly. "She's just like Teef… sad and miserable but she still tries to be cheerful…" he thought to himself.

Cliff smiled at the fact that she was finally warming up to him. "Well… alright…" he said as he shrugged.

Tiffany waited for him to speak up, but he was still hesitant to tell her. "Well?" she asked.

He hesitated for a few more moments before finally telling her, "I wanted to join SOLDIER… but…" he trailed off when he saw the way she was looking at him. She was really listening attentively to him. "But what?" he asked.

He suddenly lost his words. He was happy deep inside that he finally got to meet her. He had adored her from afar for a long time already but didn't know how to let her know… although he knows that at that moment, he couldn't tell her, still. It would be too soon.

"Uh-oh… the darn foo's got that lovesick stare on his face." Barret muttered to Vincent.

Vincent just shook his head in disbelief. "Young love…" he mumbled.

Tiffany's smile faded as she stared back at him. She frowned slightly. "But what?" she asked, making her voice louder to make him snap out of his trance. "What's wrong with him?" she thought to herself in confusion.

Cliff jerked slightly. "Oh… uhm… what was I saying?" he asked, losing track of himself.

She stared unbelievably at him. "Are you alright?" she asked as she reached out a hand to him and touched his forehead. "You seem feverish…" she said.

He moved away from her, feeling his temperature rising further because of her touch. "Well it's just… warm in this room tonight. Haha!" he laughed lightly before he got up. "I'll just go outside for a while for some cool air." He told her before rushing to the door. She got up and went after him. "I'll go with you," she said.

Cliff blushed. "But… isn't it dangerous for you to… just go outside at this time of the night?" he asked.

She laughed at what he said. "You're kidding me! I can defend myself. And besides, you're here right? An aspiring SOLDIER should know how to protect the President. Tell you what, if you can do a great job tonight, once we get back to Midgar, I'll take care of your application to SOLDIER and make sure you're in." she told him reassuringly.

He wanted to melt. "R…really?" he asked in awe.

She mindlessly got his hand and led the way further into the streets. "Come on." She said with a sweet smile on her face.

Barret and Vincent watched as the two walked away hand-in-hand.

"Shall I follow them?" Vincent asked.

Barret nodded. "Yeah. We have to make sure Tiffany is alright. I just received a text message from Cloud that he and Rufus are comin' here." He told him.

Vincent just nodded and just took off, unseen by the two young people.

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Tifa opened her eyes when she heard purring from a large cat. A pair of green catty eyes stared down at her in wonder. "Meowr!" a panther-like animal greeted her happily.

Tifa smiled in relief. "Oh… Dark Nation," she said softly as she reached out a hand to Rufus's pet and stroked its fur gently. She saw that an I.V. is attached to the back of her hand. Slowly, the events came back to her. But she was relieved. She was home and she knew she had nothing more to worry about.

"You're awake," Aerith began. Tifa turned to her friend who was just seated on the couch beside the bed. "Hey, Aerith," she greeted wearily.

Aerith giggled. "You had us worried back there. But not to worry, I helped heal you." She told her. Tifa smiled. "Thank you, Aerith." She said softly. "What time is it?" she continued. Aerith glanced at her watch and said, "It's 2 in the morning." She replied.

Tifa just sighed heavily. "Where's Rufus?" she asked softly as she turned her head to the other side, scanning the room. It sure was nice to be home.

"He and Cloud went to Nibelheim to pick up Tiffany and bring her back here." Aerith told her. Tifa turned back to her with a pleased but tired smile on her face. "I'm so happy to be here again… and I'm happier to know that Rufus is alive. Tell me, did you know something about this all along?" she asked.

Aerith bit her lower lip and just chuckled lightly. "Well… yeah. But Rufus told me and the rest of the gang not to let you know because he really wants to know what's happening around here in ShinRa and in Midgar and how they're treating you and Tiffany." She explained. "You should've been there all those years that you had been apart from him. He was so… miserable. But he knew he had to do that for his own family's sake." Aerith leaned forward to her. "Tell me, Tifa, you seem so different." She whispered.

Tifa just blinked. "What do you mean I'm different?" she asked with a slight frown.

Aerith just kept on looking into her eyes. "You seem… different. When you were living alone, you became distant… and you never even bothered to keep in touch with Cloud and the rest of us." She told her.

Tifa just stared blankly at her. "I guess it's normal for a person to feel this way especially when she feels that life had given up on her because the only two things that mattered to her had been taken away." She replied flatly.

Aerith held her hand gently, "I don't like you being like that, Tifa. What happened to the happy girl I used to know?" she asked with a sad smile on her face.

Tifa stared at her friend for a few moments with a cold look on her face before smiling. "Well, she's back." She replied simply. But at the back of her mind, she was already devising on how she could get even on the sole person who tried to take everything away from her.

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Tiffany and Cliff stopped by the well and looked up at it with curiosity.

"This is where you get your water?" she asked curiously.

"Well… not really. It's just here as a landmark and as a symbol… and only its neighboring houses make use of it nowadays especially when it's dry season when water becomes scarce sometimes." He explained.

She continued to stare at it for a few more moments before deciding to come nearer to it. He wondered what she was going to do, and to his surprise, she just climbed up. "Hey! Be careful!" he told her.

She did not listen. She just continued to climb up, and when she reached the top, she was amazed at the lovely view. Cliff followed after her and joined her up there.

"It's lovely in here," she said softly.

Cliff had to agree. He nodded with a soft smile on his face.

"What are you doing up so late?" they heard someone say from below.

Tiffany and Cliff both jerked up in surprise as they turned to look at who it was. They were surprised to see their fathers.

Her mouth dropped open and tears welled up in her eyes as she saw her father with a soft smile on his face. She instantly got down from the well and ran to him while laughing heartily, her tears streaming down her face. But she stopped when she got to stand before him. "Father," she said softly.

Cliff got down and joined Cloud. "Hey dad," he greeted. Cloud nodded at his son as a greeting before turning back to Tiffany and Rufus.

Rufus was staring in awe at his daughter. It was the first time that he heard her call him _father_ and he felt so happy deep inside. "How did you know?" he asked with his usual poker-faced expression.

"Silly, father. Uncle Barret told me!" Tiffany told him before finally giving him a hug.

Cloud smiled calmly at the father-daughter scene. "Well… at last they're together again." he heard Cliff said softly. Cloud just nodded. "But it's not yet over." He said, frowning slightly when he sensed that someone was lurking from behind them. He instantly turned around to look, but there was no one there. "What's wrong, dad?" Cliff asked with a frown on his face.

Rufus also sensed movement and he instantly shoved his daughter behind him as a move to protect her. "Father, what's wrong?" she asked nervously.

"Just stay back…" he told her.

The whole area was quiet.

They heard gunshots from behind them and they instantly turned around to look at who was firing. It was Vincent moving in a swift motion to shoot someone a few meters away from them. "Get away from here!" Vincent told them.

"Vincent," Rufus began.

"Rufus, Tiffany. Get away from here. Hojo is here." Cloud told them.

"What?" Rufus asked in awe.

"Hojo? So that's him?" Vincent asked in surprise.

"I think so… I think I saw him move from that house to the other one…" Cloud told them before he got his Ultima Weapon and rushed off to the houses.

"Dad, wait up!" Cliff said, going after his father, but Cloud stopped him, "No. You go with Tiffany and Rufus. Make sure they're alright." He instructed. Although hesitant, Cliff just nodded and went back to Rufus and Tiffany. "Let's get you guys out of here. It's dangerous for the two of you." He said.

Vincent followed after Cloud.

Cliff, Rufus and Tiffany went the other way.

"Where are we going?" Tiffany asked her father.

"We're going back to Midgar. You're safer there." He answered. And then he just fell down to the ground, bleeding.

"Father!" she cried out as she supported him. He had a bullet wound on his right shoulder. "Bloody hell, where did that come from?!" he cursed in anger. They froze when they noticed someone approaching them. Rufus's eyes widened in shock when he recognized who it was: Hojo.

"Did you like my new invention, Rufus?" Hojo asked, referring to his gunarm. "It shoots bullets quietly." He explained. "Interesting reunion. And I'm quite surprised that you are still alive. I thought you died several years ago." He continued.

Rufus just stared coldly at him.

Hojo smiled evilly at them.

"Who is he?" Cliff asked with a frown on his face.

Hojo stared at him. "Ah… judging from your features, you are Cloud Strife's son, aren't you?" he asked with a pleased look on his face.

"Damn hell, you're right." Cliff said before he got his Buster Sword that once belonged to his father. "A sword against this weapon of mine? Isn't that foolish?" Hojo mocked.

"It's not foolish if you know how to use it properly." Tiffany said with an arrogant tone as she got her shotgun. "I don't know who you are but I don't like you." She sneered.

"That's Professor Hojo, one of ShinRa's former scientists. He's the mastermind behind all of these; he controlled Reno and used him for his own plans. He was the one who tried to harm you and your mother and not Reno." Rufus explained to her.

"I see…" Tiffany hissed, getting angry at the last sentence.

Vincent and Cloud finally joined them but they were behind Hojo. "So this is where he went. He's too fast." The latter said.

"Indeed. I don't know what he did to himself but…" the former stopped himself when Hojo turned to look at him. "Ah. Vincent Valentine. How nice to see you again after all these years!" he greeted.

Vincent just frowned at him. "You're more of a monster than what you have made me into right now, I must say," he remarked with a mocking tone. Hojo just laughed at him. "I know, but who got the girl?" he asked mockingly. Vincent cringed.

"Enough of that bullshit," Tiffany snapped impatiently before shooting at Hojo. Since the man was caught off-guard, he instantly got shot through the heart.

But to their awe, he was still standing. He did not even bleed.

"Are you a zombie or what?!" Cloud asked in disgust.

Hojo was angry now and he began to shoot at them randomly.

Rufus forced himself to get up to dodge the bullets. The rest of them tried to get close to Hojo and probably try to paralyze his gun-arm or cut it off, but none of them were successful in their attempts.

Hojo just laughed at them. "I am so amazed at you… especially at your daughter, President Rufus." He said with a pleased look on his face. Tiffany narrowed her eyes on him. "What is it that you want, you old bastard?" she demanded with an angry look on her face.

"I just have one simple wish: to be able to take over your company. I need the money for my experiments… and to continue the JENOVA project too." he replied.

"You're sick!" Vincent aimed his gun at him. "I never liked you and you know that, Vincent… so don't make me kill you right here, right now!" Hojo warned him with an angry look on his face. Vincent just smiled slightly at him, "Fine. Do whatever you want. Once I lose my life here, guess who'll be with Lucrecia in the afterlife?" he asked.

Silence.

"You…" Hojo began in rage, ready to shoot Vincent's brains out. It was a good distraction that Vincent made, because it let Tiffany, Cloud and Cliff get the chance to attack him.

Vincent signaled for Rufus get away, but Rufus insisted that he wanted to stay and fight. "I am going to make your journey to hell a horrible one…" he mumbled.

"I will take you and your revolting daughter with me if you insist," Hojo said maliciously. Sneering, he reloaded his gun-arm and shot at Cloud, who was at that time, charging at him full-force. "Same goes for you and your seed, failure."

A bullet grazed the surface of Cloud's skin. A wound began bleeding. Cloud didn't stop trying to slice him with a sword, but Hojo didn't stop either. A second bullet tore through Cloud's abdomen. Cloud yelled in pain. The grip on his sword weakened as he stumbled on the ground.

"DAD!" Cliff yelled. Taking the opportunity while Cliff is distracted, Hojo shot him at the leg.

Tiffany saw Cliff stumble. But, unfazed, she continued shooting at Hojo. The scientist remained standing. "No use, Madam President. The experiments I have done on myself… they have made me immortal." To demonstrate further, he dug two fingers through his flesh and picked out one of the bullets from her shotgun.

Tiffany's eyes widened.

"Shocked? Amazed? You should be. I did not get into the ShinRa Laboratory Team because I am an idiot… I have discovered that you, Mr. Valentine, are immortal… inhuman… because of the modifications I did to your body."

Vincent frowned deeper. He, Hojo, Rufus and Tiffany all stopped attacking… waiting for the other party to move, to use it against them. A tension hung in the air. "It took me a while to discover this… but eventually, I found out what made him immortal and performed those modifications on myself."

After a brief silence, Vincent asked, "I am immortal?"

Hojo tilted his head mockingly. "No." He shot at Vincent, but the Turk dodged.

"Then you aren't." Tiffany sneered. She shot at Hojo's forehead. No blood came out of the hole in his head. Hojo laughed. "For the moment, I am, President. There is something special with my bullets… there is, as you ignorant fools would say, poison… but it's actually a virus I have created that is designed to attack abnormal cells in the body. Once it enters through Mr. Valentine's blood stream, it will kill all JENOVA-infected cells in his body; more specifically, the JENOVA-infected cells that stops his aging and regenerating processes. His defences will diminish, and he will die eventually like any other mortal. So don't get your hopes up, Mr. Valentine. I will enjoy sending you to hell," Hojo began shooting at Vincent. Vincent rolled on the ground, dodged, jumped, and hid behind rocks to avoid getting hit.

Tiffany, in desperation, continued shooting at Hojo, but none seemed to hurt him. "Dad… what do we do?!" she whispered to Rufus.

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm aiming…" he mumbled. Blinking to clear his vision, he began aiming at a round orb attached to Hojo's gun-arm: the Materia that was powering it up. He fired. Hojo flinched. "AIE!" The gun-arm flailed wildly… a stray bullet headed towards a random direction…

"Urgh…"

"YOU CUNT!" Hojo yelled, charging at Rufus, ready to beat him to death if he needed to… but Tiffany stepped up. Her red eyes flashing, she mercilessly shot Hojo in every vital organ she could fire at. With the Materia… no, now that the orb that was continuously supplying Hojo with the liquid his body needs to take all those bullets is ruined, every hole embedded in his body by bullets started gushing out blood.

Hojo started choking. Dark red liquid began flowing out of his mouth. Before he reached Rufus, he fell on the ground, writhing, choking, bleeding, until he finally lay down unmoving.

Vincent peeked out from behind the well he was hiding. Cliff and Cloud, who were helping each other out, froze in anticipation. Rufus stood in awe of his daughter.

They soon crowded around Hojo. "He's dead, right?" Cloud grunted.

"He is… finally…" Vincent said coldly.

Rufus smirked. Proudly turning to Tiffany, he said, "Well done… Tiffany?" He looked at her strangely, surprised that she's suddenly quiet. Then he saw it… a dark red staining her white jacket.

She wanted to say something, but all that came out was a croak. She was smiling when she collapsed.

xooxooxooxooxooxoox

Tifa gleefully waited on the roof of the ShinRa building, watching the chopper from Nibelheim carrying her long-lost daughter and husband land. "Aerith, I'm so happy… My daughter is finally able to see me after all these years…"

"There, there," Aerith handed her a handkerchief. "Nothing is going to go wrong now…"

The first figure to come down from the helicopter was Vincent Valentine. His face was solemn, and his aura was that of grief or mourning. Instantly, Tifa and Aerith's happy faces fell. "Vincent? What's the matter?"

Aerith ran to her husband and son as soon as they came out of the chopper, being supported by a few men. "Oh my god! What happened to you two?!"

"Mom…" Cliff said softly, his eyes red. A Paramedic stopped Aerith. "Ma'am, they've been hit by bullets. We're taking them to the hospital… come this way." Panicking, she left Tifa behind and followed the paramedics inside the building.

Rufus came out next. "Rufus…?" Tifa asked softly. She ran towards him. "Where's—

Three men came out of the chopper carrying a stretcher. "Easy there…"

Tifa gasped. A figure covered with a white blanket was on the stretcher. "No… don't tell me…" When she was about to lift the cover, Rufus held her wrist to stop her. "Tifa…"

"No! Let me see her!" Tifa yelled. The paramedics stopped. Gently, she used a delicate hand to lift the blanket off the figure…

Tiffany's lifeless face was exposed.

Tifa froze. Rufus and Vincent, watching her, could not say anything.

"Ma'am… we have to take her away now…" one of the paramedics said softly.

Tifa sniffled. A singular tear slid down her pale cheek. "Why… how… how did this happen?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Vincent looked at Rufus, wondering how to explain what happened. Rufus put a hand around his wife's shoulder.

Nobody said a word.

xooxooxooxooxooxoox


	16. epilogue

ShinRa

By GQ and Zhak

oOoOo

Epilogue

_Seven years later…_

The morning sunlight seeped through the curtains of the masters' bedroom. Rufus ShinRa turned to his side to avoid the light, and opened his eyes sleepily. He expected to see his wife, Tifa, still asleep beside him, but to his surprise, she was not there anymore. He sat up and gazed sleepily at the figure who was standing by the window and gazing outside.

He blinked and decided to get out of bed.

Sensing movement from behind her, Tifa slowly turned her head to the side and looked at her husband. She did not smile in her usual cheerful way. Instead, she just twisted her mouth to form a slight grin. He joined her, standing beside her and parting the drapes further so that they could take a good look at the whole of Midgar which could be seen from their bedroom window in the ShinRa Tower.

"Lovely, isn't it?" he asked her.

She just nodded. However, Rufus's mobile phone had to interrupt the moment when it began to ring. He frowned and rushed back to the bedside table and answered the call. "Yes? Cloud. Yes. Today? Alright. Schedule a meeting. Oh yes, Cliff has been promoted to the Turks. Tell him to report to Vincent's office immediately this afternoon at one." And he hung up. "Cobblers. I have another meeting with the executives from the Wutaian Water Company. Would you like to come along?" he asked.

She nodded. "Of course. I'd love to come along. Shall we take our son with us?" she asked.

He thought for a while before shrugging. "Doesn't he have school?" he asked.

"He must learn how to close business deals so I think it's essential that he watches you in a meeting, Rufus." She told him. Rufus just stared curiously at her. She really did change. But he just tried to keep a positive outlook about it. With that, he went to the bathroom to get ready for another hectic day ahead of him.

Tifa just bowed down her head.

"Mommy!"

She turned to the door when she heard it open and a little blonde boy with crimson eyes barged inside, running towards her. He was dressed up in a black turtleneck, white blazer, white pants and brown shoes… just like his father. The boy was six and a half years old but is already qualified for 8th grade.

She smiled. "Theodore," and took her son in her arms, embracing him tightly and then carrying him up in her arms. "You're not going to school today, dear. We're gonna go with daddy to Wutai." She told him.

"What? But I have a biology test!" he told her.

She just laughed. "Theodore, we can just hire you private tutors in case your school tries to expel you by not going to school… and besides, you're a smart lad, aren't you?" she asked before pinching his nose playfully. He flinched. "Argh! Mom?! Stop doing that!" he said in protest before turning to the look at the view of the whole of Midgar. "Whoa…" he said in awe.

She smiled when she saw his reaction. "Lovely, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah… do all of these belong to us?" he asked in awe, staring wide-eyed at Midgar.

She nodded. "Yes. This is like our kingdom, you see." She told him.

"Whoa… Cool! You mean you're like a Queen and daddy is a King?" he asked.

"And what does that make you?" she asked.

"A Prince!" he cheered happily. She chuckled lightly. "Of course you _are_ a prince, Theodore." And she gave him a kiss on the forehead. Theodore embraced his mother as he leaned his head on her shoulder while continuing to look at the city. She narrowed her eyes at the view, not knowing that her husband is watching them from the bathroom door while putting on his white blazer. He saw the sinister look on Tifa's face. It made him smile. "_Perfect_." He thought silently to himself. She _is_ definitely fit to be a ShinRa. While thinking about this, he was listening to his wife say to their young boy, "And all of these will be yours."

"How?" Theodore asked curiously.

"Oh you know how…" she said with a singsong voice. His face lit up. "Yeah! I know!" he cheered. "Well?" she asked.

He blinked, thinking for a while before saying, "Fear."

Rufus's smile widened. Tifa noticed that he was watching them, so she turned to him and smiled proudly at him. Rufus joined them by the window as Theodore continued, "Because _fear is power_."

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

-END-

Zhak's notes: We are so despicable. Muahahahah. Finally, the story is through. Did you all enjoy it? I just love sad, morbid endings…


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